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MADISON, Wis. – A season-best blocking performance carried No. 8 Illinois to a come-from-behind Big Ten volleyball win against Wisconsin on Friday night.

Led by junior Johannah Bangert, the Illini totaled 19 blocks en route to a 24-26, 27-25, 25-10, 27-25 triumph.

For the second time this season, Bangert tied the UI single-match record for block assists with 13. The middle blocker also had a solo block. Right-side hitter Michelle Bartsch contributed eight block assists, one short of the sophomore's career high.

Illinois outblocked Wisconsin 19-5.

Outside hitters Kylie McCulley and Laura DeBruler each belted a match-high 16 kills for Illinois (15-3, 7-2 Big Ten), which ran its winning streak to six matches.

Wisconsin (9-9, 4-5) committed 40 hitting errors.

In women's cross-country:

Woods wins in return. Danelle Woods last competed in a cross-country race in 2007. Not that you could tell Friday. Showing no effects of her lengthy layoff, the redshirt sophomore won the Illini Open to lead No. 13 Illinois to the team title.

Returning from a quadriceps injury that also sidelined her in track and field last spring, Woods completed the 5-kilometer race at the UI Arboretum in Urbana in 18 minutes, 49 seconds. The 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year edged teammate and runner-up Amber Stack, who also was timed in 18:49.

The top five finishers all were Illini runners, giving the hosts a perfect team score of 15. Illinois State was second with 53 points, while Northwestern finished third in the three-team field with 69.

Illinois' dominance extended beyond its scorers, as coach Jeremy Rasmussen's team produced eight of the top 10 finishers.

"Today was a great step in the right direction for everyone that ran," Rasmussen said. "Danelle coming out, being able to get in a good rhythm and look smooth throughout the entire race, is going to be important for us at Big Tens and even regionals and nationals.

"For our team to be able to go one through five and have eight in the top ten is obviously awesome."

Others who figured in the Illini scoring total were freshmen Madeline Aufmann (18:50) and Kelsey Seiler (18:54) and senior Theresa Brokaw (18:59).

Illinois returns to action Nov. 1 for the Big Ten Championships in State College, Pa. The Illini finished fourth in the meet last year.

In men's cross-country:

Bohne leads Illini. Illinois came within one point of a perfect team score while repeating as Illini Open champions at the UI Arboretum.

Led by individual champion Nate Bohne, the Illini had five of the top six finishers to win with 16 points. Illinois State was second with 40 points, while Illinois Wesleyan placed third in the three-team meet with 80.

"It was tough out there today; it was muddy and about a half of a mile in the back loop was under water," UI coach Wendel McRaven said. "We would love to have nice weather so the guys could compare their times to what they ran in the beginning of the season at the Illini Challenge, but considering the conditions, we ran really well today."

None better than Bohne. The sophomore finished the 8K race in 26:07 to edge junior teammate Jared Richardson by two seconds. Also scoring for Illinois were Eric Johannigmeier (third in 26:11); Jordan Hebert (fourth in 26:14); and Phil Pompei (sixth in 26:31).

"We had a great competitive effort," McRaven said. "They worked well together in the first part of the race, and we had some guys trying to step up and make the Big Ten (travel) squad.

"They did a great job of doing that today and now we just have to sit down and look at the last five meets to see who is going to travel to Big Tens."

The Big Ten meet is Nov. 1 at State College, Pa.

Illinois finished ninth in the conference last year.

In women's tennis:

Freshman in main draw. Illini freshman Breanne Smutko advanced to the singles main draw of the ITA Midwest Regional Championships at Evanston with a victory in the third round of qualifying.

Smutko, a Nos. 9-16 seed in qualifying, swept No. 7 seed Hannah Berner of Wisconsin 6-2, 6-1. She was one of eight qualifiers to reach the main draw.

All three Illini doubles teams went undefeated to reach the round of 16. The UI tandem of Chelcie Abajian and Rachael White, seeded Nos. 5-8, defeated the Michigan duo of Taylor Fournier and Kari Wig 8-6 in the second round following a first-round bye.