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No. 16 Illini travel to Iowa, Minnesota
Nov. 4, 2008
Champaign, Ill. - Complete Match Notes in PDF Format ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCEIllinois win streak reaches five, moves into sole possession of second place: With two victories over the weekend, Illinois moved into sole possession of the second place spot in the Big Ten. With 18 wins so far this year, the Illini already have more wins than any year since 2004 and their 9-3 conference record is their best since 1998.• Illinois now has won five straight for the first time since 2003 and has won eight of its last nine. • In that nine-match stretch, Illinois has hit .252 to its opponents .157 and out-blocked opponents 103.5-60.5. Illinois travels to Iowa, Minnesota This weekend's matches could go a long way to determining second place in the league. Purdue, the Illini's travel partner, is tied with Minnesota for second, and also plays Iowa and the Gophers. • Iowa, meanwhile, is having a breakout season with a 13-11 overall record and 5-7 conference mark under first-year coach Sharon Dingman. The Hawkeyes had won nine Big Ten matches combined in the last four seasons. Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series with Minnesota, 34-25, but the Gophers have won 14 of the last 18 meetings...The Illini won four straight matches from Nov. 29, 1997-Oct. 16, 1999. Illinois leads the all-time series with Iowa, 47-13 and is 19-4 vs. the Hawkeyes under Don Hardin. The Illini won both meetings last year and also the first meeting at Huff Hall in four sets. Season has been a breakout for Illini Pulling rank Edinger breaks digs record: Ashley Edinger became Illinois' all-time digs leader on Nov. 1 in a win over Ohio State. Edinger holds two of the top three digs seasons in Illinois history, including 564 last year. She also topped 1,000 digs in just her 57th match of her career. Tracey Marshall, who was Illinois' all-time digs leader with 1,426, recorded her 1,000th career dig in her 80th match. She also had 35 digs vs Dayton, her sixth 30+digs match of her career. Illinois career digs list 1. Ashley Edinger 1,442 2. Tracey Marshall 1,426 3. Mary Coleman 1,393 4. Lauren Harks 1,346 5. Beth Vrdsky 1,166 6. Sandy Scholtens 1,133 7. Mary Eggers 1,092 8. Petra Laverman 1,003 9. Kathleen Bazzetta 974 10. Shadia Haddad 962Edinger nearing Big Ten digs list Edinger now has 1,442 digs for her career on pace for 2,120, which would be fourth best in Big Ten history. Big Ten's All-Time Digs List 1. 2,791 Paula Gentil, MINN 2002-05 2. 2,182 Jocelyn Wack, WIS 2004-07 3. 2,178 Stesha Selsky, MICH 2004-07 4. 1,957 Kaleena Walters, PSU 2002-05 5. 1,931 Janet Moylan, IOWA 1987-90 6. 1,920 Susan Wohlford, WIS 1988-91 7. 1,658 Christie Gardner, NU 2002-05 8. 1,632 Jenny Rees, IOWA 1987-90 9. 1,572 Stacey Gordon, OSU 2001-04 10. 1,564 Becky Kanitz, PUR 1985-88 Bangert leads nation in blocks Bangert not only leads the Big Ten in blocking in overall matches, but also with a 1.80 blocks per set average in conference matches.Michelle Bartsch is tied for fourth at 1.44. The only other player in school history to lead the conference in blocks was Denise Fracaro in 1984. Bangert and the record book •Bangert's 12 blocks vs. New Mexico State are tied for the fourth most in a match in school history. Kellie Hebeisen holds the record with 15 vs. Georgia in 1991. Illinois up to 6th in the RPI 1 Stanford 17-3 2 Nebraska 20-0 3 Penn St. 22-0 4 Texas 16-2 5 Minnesota 18-4 6 Illinois 16-5 7 California 18-2 8 Florida 17-2 9 Purdue 17-5 10 St. Louis 19-4 11 Colorado St. 18-2 12 Oregon 17-4 13 Tulane 18-5 14 Washington 16-3 15 Kansas St. 18-4 16 Wichita St. 22-0 17 Utah 15-4 18 Florida Int'l 20-4 19 Southern California 11-7 20 Hawaii 17-3Edinger repeats as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week In a weekend in which she broke the school's career digs record, Ashley Edinger repeated as the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 3. For the weekend, the Michigan City, Ind., native averaged 4.9 digs per set and received serves with 98 percent accuracy as the Illini defeated No. 18 Michigan, 3-2, and the Buckeyes, 3-1. Edinger posted back-to-back 20-dig matches for the first time since Aug. 30 and Sept. 5 of this year, recording 20 saves against the nationally ranked Wolverines and 24 versus Ohio State. The libero passed her team to a combined .231 hitting mark on the weekend while anchoring the defense that held opponents to a .219 clip. Behind Edinger, the Illini moved up to second place in the Big Ten standings. • Edinger's honor is not only her second, but also the fourth for an Illini this season. Only three other years -- 1986, 1988 and 1992 have the Illini garnered four, but the is the first time that three different players shared the four honors. Capsules of Illinois' other DeBruler was at the heart of the Illini comeback win over no. 11 Oregon with 22 kills in the final three sets en route to a match-high 31, which also ties a career high. DeBruler averaged 5.4 kills per set to lead Illinois to the tournament's title. The sophomore recorded a double-double in each match with 14 kills and 15 digs against the Tar Heels, 20 kills and 11 digs vs. the Aggies and 31 kills and 12 saves against the Ducks. Against Oregon, DeBruler led the Illini back from a two-set deficit, putting down 22 of her 31 kills in the final three stanzas. In set 4, she recorded nine kills, including six of the final nine Illinois points to key the rally that saw the Illini score 11 of the final 13 points in the set. On the weekend DeBruler totaled 65 kills on a .302 hitting percentage with 38 total digs (3.2 dps) and 11 total blocks (0.9 dps). • Johannah Bangert was named Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 20 after leading the Illini to road wins over Michigan and Ohio State. She had six kills, hit .364 and tallied six blocks vs. OSU then had nine blocks, five kills and a .714 attack percentage vs. Michigan. • Ashley Edinger was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27 in helping lead the Illini to victories over no. 18 Purdue and Michigan State. Edinger averaged 5.2 digs per set with 15 digs against Purdue and 16 vs. Michigan State. She also made just one reception error in 43 total chances. Illini block sets tone To put the block surge in perspective, last season Illinois ranked 10th in the Big Ten last year at 2.23 blocks per, set keeping in mind that last year the teams played to 30 instead of 25. 2008 NCAA Division I Block Leaders Name Blocks Average 1 Johannah Bangert, Illinois 140 1.61 2 Emily Underwood, Memphis 164 1.56 3 Ashten Stelken, UNI 135 1.55 4 Christa Harmotto, Penn St. 105 1.52 5 Anna Breyfogle, Baylor 120 1.52 6 Danielle Hepburn, Clemson 126 1.52 7 Ashley Benson, Indiana 139 1.51 8 Mekana Barnes, Colorado St. 115 1.47 9 Foluke Akinradewo, Stanford 107 1.47 10 Lori Baird, Utah 114 1.46Illinois and the national rankings After sweeping matches against no. 18 Michigan and Ohio state, Illinois moved back 16th in the latest Bison/AVCA Coaches poll. The Illini received 593 votes from the 60-member panel. They are in the rankings for the tenth straight week is the highest ranking by an Illinois team since being ranked 13th on Sept. 20, 2004. • Seven Illinois opponents are ranked in the top 25. Defending national champion Penn State is first followed by Stanford (2), Oregon (8), Minnesota (17), Purdue (18), Michigan (20) and Saint Louis (21). The Big Ten is second to the Pac 10, who boasts six of the top 10 teams, in number teams ranked. • Big Ten teams were a combined 103-26 (.798) during the non-conference. This included eight victories over ranked opponents -- Penn State over no. 12 Hawaii and no. 6 UCLA; Minnesota over no. 21 LSU and no. 16 Cal Poly; Wisconsin over no. 23 BYU; Purdue over no. 14 Kansas State; and Illinois over no. 11 Oregon and no. 23 New Mexico State. Bazzetta moves up assists charts Illinois all-time assists leaders Name Assists Matches Years 1. Melissa Beitz 5,797 114 1996-99 2. Disa Johnson 5,550 141 1984-87 3. Barb Winsett 4,457 128 1987-90 4. Merrill Mullis 3,661 119 1990-93 5. Lizzie Bazzetta 3,654 105 2005-08 6. Betsy Eiserman 3,578 86 2000-02DeBruler chases 1,000 kills With the team's success this season, sophomore Laura DeBruler has emerged as a potential All-American candidate. DeBruler had 31 kills in a five-set victory over no. 11 Oregon and 24 in a hard-fought victory at Illinois State. At 4.54 kills per set, DeBruler ranks second in the Big Ten and 9th nationally in that category. She leads the conference in kills during conference matches at 4.64 DeBruler now has 972 kills for her young career with a good chance to surpass the 1,000-mark this weekend. Illinois' all-time kills leader, Mary Eggers, had 906 in her first two seasons. Erin Borske holds the Illini record for kills in her two seasons with 1,192, but played just two years. DeBruler led all freshmen nationally, while ranking 22nd overall in kills per set in 2007. 2008 NCAA Division I Kills Leaders Name Blocks Average 1 Yarimar Rosa, Florida Int'l 507 5.23 2 Mackenzie Angner, SDSU 426 5.07 3 Jeanne Fairchild, New Mexico 367 4.89 4 Erica Short, Indiana 441 4.79 5 Yun Yi Zhang, Temple 430 4.67 6 Angie Porché, Valparaiso 423 4.65 7 Meagan Schoenrock, NIU 417 4.58 8 Haley Larsen, Idaho 405 4.55 9 Laura DeBruler, Illinois 395 4.54 10 Hayley Hills, Eastern Wash. 390 4.53Laura DeBruler making history Laura DeBruler is the only player to rank in the top 10 in the Big Ten in both kills and digs, ranking second in kills per set (4.54) and 10th in digs (3.15). DeBruler posted the first 20-20 performance by an Illini in six years with 24 kills on a career-high 80 swings to go along with 22 digs. The last Illinois player to accomplish that was Sue Webber, who had 22 kills and 26 digs vs. Minnesota on Oct. 12, 2002. DeBruler followed that with 21 kills and 15 digs in a four-set victory over Iowa and 26 kills and 16 digs vs. Northwestern DeBruler now has nine 20-kill matches this season, including a 31-kill performance vs. no. 11 Oregon. That gives her 24 20-kill matches for her career, which moves her to third place on the Illini's all-time list. Illinois career 20-kill matches 1. Rachel VanMeter (`01-'05) 29 2. Erin Borske (`94-'95) 28 3. Laura DeBruler (2007-08) 24 4. Tracey Marshall (`96-'99) 19 5. Mary Coleman (`95-'98) 18 6. Shadia Haddad (`98-'01) 16 7. Bridget Boyle (`86-'89) 13 Nancy Brookhart (`86-'89) 13 9. Betsy Spicer (`97-2000) 11 Petra Laverman (`88-'90) 11Bartsch "not playing like a freshman" Time after time Illinois head coach Don Hardin has said the Michelle Bartsch "does not play like a freshman." The 16th-ranked player out of last year's high school class nationally, played for the U.S. Junior National Team this summer at middle blocker. Bartsch is also known as a great passer and server, having been named Best Server at the NORCECA Championships, in helping the United States to the gold medal. But she had not served this season until Oct. 31 when she served a key ace in the fifth set in keep the the Illini hopes alive vs. no. 18 Michigan. Illinois won that set and the match, 24-22. Bartsch has been a key figure on the block in teaming with both Johannah Bangert and Abby Nelson. She has 98 blocks on the season and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in blocks during conference matches (1.44). Haen playing front row in two-setter system This has not caused a huge challenge for the Illini as this is also one of the line-ups that was used regularly during the spring,. That gives Illinois two setters in the match at the same time on three of the six rotations. Haen has played in the front row the past ten matches and is hitting .294 with 14 block assists during that time.
Nelson provides support in multiple areas A little irony Penn State enters this week, having won 50 straight matches. Two victories would give the Nittany Lions 52 in a row, tying USC, heading into Nov. 14's match with the Illini. Last year a young Illini team took Penn State to five sets, the only unranked team to take a set from the Lions a year ago.
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