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Illinois takes No. 2 Penn State to the brink
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Stefanie Alde had a career-high 20 kills vs. Penn State.
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Oct. 19, 2007
Champaign, Ill. - Earlier this season, Illinois head coach Don Hardin noted that his talented freshman class would come of age, he just wasn't sure when. Friday night was another benchmark in the team's progression as Illinois, down two games to none to the second-ranked team in the country, rallied to force a game five. Penn State, though, escaped with a 30-28, 30-25, 19-30, 28-30, 15-10 victory in front of an electric Huff Hall crowd.
Heading into Friday night, Penn State was perfect in the Big Ten- eight matches, eight wins, 24 individual games, 24 wins. The second ranked Nittany Lions, two days prior to a first-place showdown with eighth-ranked Wisconsin, got all it wanted from Illinois. The Illini became the first unranked team and first conference school to take even a game from the Lions this season.
Illinois got a career night from senior Stefanie Alde, who tallied a career-best 20 kills and hit .457 from the right side and a strong night from middle hitter Vicki Brown, who added 16 kills and hit .303. But Penn State put forth an impressive block all night, tying its own Huff Hall record with 25 blocks to Illinois' six. Penn State also had 25 blocks in Champaign on Nov. 1, 1997.
"Week by week we're playing better volleyball and improving, which is all I can ask for," said Illinois head coach Don Hardin.
The match also pitted two of the top candidates for Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten in Illinois' Laura DeBruler and Penn State's Arielle Wilson. Although the Penn State blocked neutralized DeBruler for a part of the night, the Downers Grove, Ill., native managed 27 kills, one off her career-high. That was DeBruler's ninth 20-kill match of the season and third in the last four outings. Wilson, Penn State's highly regarded middle, finished the night with four kills in 15 attacks.
Aside from a few stretches in the second and fifth games, Illinois' played at least even with Penn State most of the night. The fearless Illini team jumped to an 8-3 lead out of the shoots in game one. Penn State rallied time and again only to see the Illini take leads of 20-17, 23-20 and 25-24. The hitting duo of junior Nicole Fawcett (19 kills) and Megan Hodge (23 kills) broke open a 26-26 tie to help PSU take game one by two points.
The narrow defeat conjured memories of last season when Illinois took the Lions beyond 30 in two of the games, only to fall in both games. After Penn State took the second game 30-25, Illinois' came out with aggression in games three and four.
Illinois hit a whopping .421 in snatching game three 30-19. Alde and DeBruler each had five kills while Brown added four. The difference, though, was the Illinois back row defense. Illinois out-dug Penn State 82-54 on the night, partially because of all those Penn State blocks, but even more so because the likes of junior Kristine Anderson (18 digs), sophomore Ashley Edinger (career-high 18), DeBruler (16), junior Lizzie Bazzetta (14) and senior Amy Palash (14) were relentless in not allowing the ball to hit the floor and in the process making pinpoint passes in the third and fourth games. Illinois also out-aced Penn State 7-3 paced by two apiece from Edinger and freshman Johannah Bangert.
"We were really determined to play as a team tonight," DeBruler said. "Our passing and defense were key."
Early in game four, the crowd realized the upset was indeed possible. Bazzetta had three aggressive serves in a row, leading to three Penn State hitting errors as Illinois went in front 7-3. The Lions and Illini exchanged runs throughout the game until the Lions' took their first lead at 25-24. After an Illinois timeout first DeBruler then Alde had kills and PSU committed a hitting error as the Illini regained a 27-25 lead. At game point, freshman Nicole Kump and Brown combined on a stuff block to send the match into a fifth and deciding game.
The Penn State block was too tough in the fifth game however, as the Lions tallied six of the 15 points off the block in closing out the match. Alisha Glass had three solo blocks and 11 block assists overall to pace the stonewall Penn State front line defense.
Penn State improves to 9-0 in the conference and 17-2 overall while Illinois is now 12-7 overall and 4-5 in the conference. It was the third straight home match and sixth overall this season that Illinois lost in five games.
"I'm proud of the way our team battled through," Hardin said. "Our key is keeping within ourselves late in the match. We'll get there and I'm excited for this next run through the Big Ten."
Illinois closes out the first half of the conference season Sunday at Huff Hall against Ohio State. First serve is at 2 p.m.
