Aug. 29, 2007
Champaign, Ill. -
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ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE
Illini tackle first ranked opponent of the season
Illinois plays in its second tournament of the season, traveling to Rice University for the Mizuno Invitational II. The field includes No. 22 LSU, Rice and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. This will be the first ranked opponent that Illinois has faced this season.
• Illinois' last victory over a ranked non-conference opponent was Sept. 11, 2004 vs. No. 1 USC.
• The last victory over a ranked SEC opponent was Sept. 19, 1997 with a 3-0 victory over No. 24 Arkansas.
• Illinois is 3-3 all time vs. LSU. The Tigers went 3-1 vs. the Illini from 1981-83, but Illinois has won the previous two meetings -- in 1988 (3-0) and 1992 (3-1).
A score to settle
Illinois is returning the match with Rice. The Owls played the Illini in the 2005 State Farm Illini Classic and came away with the title winning 30-26, 30-26, 32-30 in the championship match. That was the only match in the series history.
Tournament Overview
• Illinois is playing TAMUCC for the first time in school history.
• LSU is 3-0 after defeating New Orleans (3-0), La-Monroe (3-0) and Saint Louis (3-2). Lauren DeGirolamo hit .517 with 34 kills for the weekend.
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 2-1, after falling to Texas A&M (3-0) and defeating Prairie View (3-0) and Centenary (3-0). Lauren Paslay had 36 kills while hitting .259.
• Lamar won the Mizuno Invitational I. Rice went 1-2 in the tournament, defeating Lamar (3-2) and falling to La. Tech (3-0) and Oral Roberts (3-0)
Schedule
8/31 10:30 a.m. Illinois vs. LSU
8/31 1:30 p.m. Rice vs. TAMUCC
8/31 7 p.m. Rice vs. Illinois
9/1 11 a.m. TAMUCC vs. LSU
9/1 2:30 p.m. TAMUCC vs. Illinois
9/1 5 p.m. LSU vs. Rice
DeBruler has historic debut
Freshman Laura DeBruler had arguably the greatest debut of any Illinois player in school history. The highly regarded freshman had 28 kills and 11 digs while hitting .323 in Illinois' 3-1 victory over Bowling Green.
Fellow freshman, middle blocker Johannah Bangert also had a strong match with 11 kills, two blocks, and a .588 hitting percentage.
Tracey Marshall, one of the Illini's all-time great pass/hitters had 14 kills and 19 digs in her first match on Aug. 31, 1996.
The Illini have had nine AVCA All-Americans. None of those players reached double digits in kills and only one (Erin Borske) was double digits in digs.
A look at the debuts of those players:
Player K D B
Lisa Argabright 0 0 1
(10/2/2000 vs. Florida State)
Jessica Belter 0 1 0
(10-4-2001 vs. Loyola)
Erin Borske 9 11 2
(10-1-1994 vs. Iowa)
Nancy Brookhart 6 0 0
(9-30-1986 vs. WIU)
Laura Bush 5 4 4
(10-4-1988 vs. Bradley)
Mary Eggers 4 6 4
(8-29-1985 vs. Loyola)
Kirsten Gleis 9 3 2
(9-1-1992 vs. Northwestern)
Tina Rogers 2 4 1
(9-2-1990 vs. EIU)
Erin Virtue 0 2 2
(8-31-2001 vs. Georgetown)
Hardin eyes 200, 400
Illinois head coach
Don Hardin entered this season -- his 12th at Illinois -- with exactly 192 wins at both Louisville and Illinois. His record now stands at 194-142 at Illinois and 386-218 overall. Hardin is thus approaching 200 wins at Illinois and 400 overall.
Non-conference records the last five seasons:
2006: 9-1 2003: 9-1
2005: 9-2 2002: 6-3
2004: 8-1
Illinois recruiting class ranked sixth nationally
The Illinois freshman class is one of the most celebrated in recent memory. The group includes three of the top 50 and five of the top 100 players from last year's class according to prepvolleyball.com. The site lists Illinois' class as No. 6 in the nation.
Other Illini Notes from Dayton Flyer Classic
• Vicki Brown and Laura DeBruler were named to the All-Tournament Team. Brown had 33 kills while hitting .397 in three matches, including 19 kills in the championship match.
• Freshman Johannah Bangert hit .413 with 24 kills for the weekend while freshman Hillary Haen (66 assists) shared the setting duties with junior Lizzie Bazzetta (94 assists). Bangert had 11 kills while hitting .588 in her debut match.
• Illinois had two match points in game four, leading host Dayton 29-27, but the Flyers scored the final four points.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Friday, Sept. 7 "Stuff Huff"
Let's STUFF HUFF with over 3,000 fans! Last season the Fighting Illini attracted 3,129 fans for the Stuff Huff event becoming the largest Illinois home crowd since 1993. Be there when the Fighting Illini host Marquette for another great Stuff Huff crowd!
STUDENT BBQ - Free BBQ for U of I students from 5:30 - 6:45 pm or while supplies last outside of Huff Hall.
Friday, Oct. 19 • Penn State • Team Night / Next Generation Night
Area high school, middle school, and club volleyball teams are invited to attend the at a group rate. To receive the group rate, teams should RSVP by Monday, Oct. 15 by contacting Allison Berg at 217-244-0062 or alberg@uiuc.edu.
