It was a weekend where the MSU women's volleyball team hoped to turn its season around. Instead, the Spartans found themselves back in familiar territory.

On the road, the Spartans fell to Illinois and were swept by No. 16 Purdue.

MSU (10-12 overall, 3-9 Big Ten) dropped a tough 3-1 game Friday to Illinois. After Illinois (13-10, 4-8) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the Spartans were able to win the third match.

The Spartans provided a strong defense with the help of sophomore libero Nicole Colaluca, who had 18 digs — the 21st time she reached double digits in kills this season.

Illinois earned a .262 hitting percentage for the game in the win.

On Saturday, the Spartans were swept by Purdue (20-3, 9-3).

MSU sophomore defensive specialist Tracy Bellwood helped put the Spartans on the scoreboard early in the first match but the offense went flat, only hitting .171 for the match. Purdue took advantage and played a near perfect first game, only having two errors.

This was the story for the rest of the night.

Sophomore outside hitter Katie Johnson provided some offensive spark ending the game with 17 kills.

The losses this weekend put the Spartans at 9th in the Big Ten standings.

MSU comes back home for games against Iowa and Minnesota this weekend.