EVANSTON — It’s rarely easy and always interesting for Illinois at Northwestern.
Winless at Welsh-Ryan Arena the last two seasons, Illinois faced a 2-1 deficit against the Wildcats after a strong start and fairly dominant first-set victory.
Par for the course on the road in Evanston. But another switch at setter turned the Illini around Wednesday night.
Jordyn Poulter came off the bench to replace Alexis Viliunas — much like Viliunas did two weeks ago against Indiana — and led Illinois to a 25-18, 26-28, 21-25, 25-16, 16-14 victory. It was the first five-set win this season for the Illini (16-8, 7-6 Big Ten) in four chances.