Sept. 11, 2007
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ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE
Illini close out non-conference season
Illinois plays its final two non-conference games this week with matches against Southern Illinois (at home Wednesday) and at Toledo (Saturday).
The Illini enter the week with a 6-2 record after winning the State Farm Illini Classic. With a pair of victories, Illinois would close out the non-conference portion of the schedule with at least eight wins for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
Non-conference records
during the Don Hardin era
2006 -- 9-1 2005 -- 9-2
2004 -- 8-1 2003 -- 9-1
2002 -- 6-3 2001 -- 8-2
2000 -- 9-2 1999 -- 4-2
1998 -- 7-3 1997 -- 9-1
1996 -- 5-3
Don Hardin approaches milestones
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 198-143 at Illinois and 390-219 overall. Hardin is thus approaching 200 wins at Illinois and 400 overall.
Milestone wins
1 -- 8/29/88, Louisville 3, W. Kent. 1
100 -- 10/17/92, Louisville 3, Tulane 0
200 -- 10/12/96, Illinois 3, Indiana 1
300 -- 9/14/02, Illinois 3, UConn 0
1 at Illinois -- 9/2/96 Illinois 3, ISU 1
100 at Illinois -- 11/14/01, Illinois 3, Indiana 1
More on Southern Illinois
• Southern Illinois is 6-2 on the season after defeating both Western Illinois and Cleveland State last weekend. SIU also has a 3-1 win vs. West Virginia
• Kristie Berwanger leads the Salukis with 102 kills. Marina Medic has 74 kills and a team-leading .449 attack percentage.
• Illinois leads the all-time series 16-12 and has won three in a row in the series. This is the first meeting since 1990. SIU's last win over Illinois came on Sept. 10, 1983 (3-2).
Brown returns to hometown
Vicki Brown returns to her hometown of Toledo, Ohio, this weekend as the Illini battle the University of Toledo.
• Brown earned All-City honors twice and was an All-District selection at Roy C. Start High School.
• Illinois is playing Toledo for the first time time. The Rockets are 3-7 with victories over Bradley, St. Francis and LaSalle.
Illini have come close to defeating two ranked opponents
• Dayton, who defeated Illinois 3-2 on Aug. 25, is ranked 21st this week. The Illini had two match points vs. the Flyers in the Championship match of the Dayton Flyer Classic, but Dayton scored the next four points to take game four and eventually the match.
• Illinois had then No. 22 (now No. 24) LSU on the ropes, before the Tigers rebounded to win in five games.
In that match, the Illini bested the favored Tigers in every statistical category - attack percentage (.237-.205), kills (68-62), digs (72-65) and blocks (14-12).
• The Illini have won their other six matches by a combined 18-2.
Illinois wins 24th Annual
State Farm Illini Classic
Illinois won its 17th State Farm Illini Classic title in the tournament's 24 years with victories over Marquette (3-0) and Creighton (3-1). Senior
Vicki Brown was named to her seventh straight All-Tournament team and was named MVP of the Illini Classic for the second straight season. Brown tallied 27 kills while hitting .362 for the weekend.
Freshman Laura DeBruler and junior setter Lizzie Bazzetta were also named to the All-Tournament team. DeBruler had 19 kills vs. Marquette while hitting .381 and added 18 kills vs. Creighton. Bazzetta had a double double with 45 assists and 13 digs vs. Creighton and engineered an Illinois offense that hit .268 vs. Marquette.
Edinger, Brown named All-Tournament at Rice
Ashley Edinger and Vicki Brown were each named to the All-Tournament Team at the Mizuno Invitational II hosted by Rice University.
Edinger had a career-high 32 digs in the Illini's near upset of LSU and finished the tournament with 64 digs (5.82 dpg), two aces, 13 assists and a .974 reception. That was the third career all-tournament selection for the sophomore libero.
Brown was named to the all-tournament team for the sixth straight time dating back to 2005. Brown had 37 kills and hit a combined .438. She had nine blocks vs. LSU and 20 in 11 games for the tournament.
Huff Hall to play host to Big Ten Network's first volleyball match
Illinois will appear on the Big Ten Network three times this fall. The Illini will face one of the Big Ten's top teams on national TV in two weeks. Illinois will host BTN's first live volleyball telecast Sept. 19 as the Illini play meet No. 10 Wisconsin in the Big Ten opener for both teams. The Oct. 8 match with nationally-ranked Purdue and the Nov. 7 rematch with the Badgers in Madison is also on tap.
Injury update
• Sophomore outside hitter Kylie McCulley is out for another three weeks due to a stress fracture in her foot.
• Senior Stefanie Alde is expected to return Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois after missing two matches with back issues.
• Redshirt junior Kayani Turner is still suffering from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and has not played this season.
Loane added to Big Ten Network team
Veteran broadcaster Dave Loane has been added to the Big Ten Network announcing team. Loane, who is in his 20th season as the radio play-by-play voice of the Fighting Illini, will team with Elizabeth Moreau for the first ever Big Ten Network broadcast Sept. 19.
Barbecue rescheduled
The student barbecue, which was rained out on Sept. 7, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 19. Students are invited to the free event in the parking lot east of Huff Hall from 5:30-6:45 p.m. or whenever the food is gone. They are then invited inside Huff to see the Illini tackle No. 9 Wisconsin
DeBruler has historic start
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.
Vicki Brown named Pre-season All-Big Ten: Illinois senior Vicki Brown has been named First Team All-Big Ten by the coaches.
Brown was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Selection last season after ranking second on the Illini with 352 kills and leading the club with a .324 attack percentage.
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.
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.
