Nov. 4, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - An MRI on Ashley Edinger's left knee has revealed an ACL tear. The Illinois senior libero injured the knee during the third set Saturday night at Purdue. The Michigan City, Ind., native will be out for the remainder of the 2009 season for the fifth-ranked team in the country.

A four-year starter, Edinger reset the Illinois defensive record book. In just 2 ½ years, she became Illinois' all-time digs leader and will finish her career with 1,921 digs, which also ranks ninth on the all-time career Big Ten list. Edinger has three of the top four digs seasons, including a school-record 564 in 2007, and six of the top nine digs matches in school history.

Edinger has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week five times in her career, including on Oct. 19 of this year, and received three All-Tournament team accolades.

"Losing Ashley for the season is a tremendous blow at this stage, but at really anytime," head coach Kevin Hambly said. "She is certainly one of the top liberos in the Big Ten and the country. Ashley has been the libero from the minute she stepped on campus and has not only rewritten the record books here at Illinois but she has set a standard for excellence that will be tough to match. However, we are fortunate to have the type of team that we feel is resilient to this loss, and we have no choice but to move forward. I know Ashley will be supportive."

Rachel Feldman will take over as the Illini libero this weekend as they host No. 15 Michigan and Michigan State at Huff Hall.