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Five Illini honored by Big Ten Conference
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Laura DeBruler (right) was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection. Michelle Bartsch (left) was an Honorable Mention all-conference choice
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Nov. 30, 2009
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -
Complete All-Big Ten teams in PDF Format 
The Big Ten Conference released its post-season awards and five Illini earned recognition. Junior outside hitter Laura DeBruler, junior middle blocker Johannah Bangert and junior setter Hillary Haen were named All-Big Ten. Sophomore right side hitter Michelle Bartsch was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection while middle blocker Erin Johnson earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
Illinois landed three players on the All-Big Ten for the first time since 1989 when Nancy Brookhart, Laura Bush and Barb Winsett were honored.
DeBruler was one of eight players who were unanimous selections as voted by the coaches. She earned Second All-America last year and this year is hitting .301 with a team-best 458 kills. She ranks second in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation in kills (4.49 kps) and second in the conference and 17th nationally in points (4.98 pps). DeBruler was named to four All-Tournament teams in 2009, earning MVP honors at the Bluejay Invitational and State Farm Illini Classic. She was also a two-time Big Ten Player of the Week honoree. DeBruler set Illinois' all-time record for 20-kill matches with her 30th of her career after tallying 21 kills at Michigan State on Oct. 2. She now has 32 for her career.
Bangert, last year's NCAA blocks leader, leads the nation again this year at 1.58 per set. She also leads the conference in blocks in Big Ten only matches at 1.73 per set. Bangert has earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week four times in her career, including twice this year -- on Oct. 12 after averaging 2.4 blocks per set in victories over Purdue and Indiana and Oct. 26 after hitting .455 with seven kills and 14 blocks vs. Wisconsin. Her 13 block assists vs. Purdue and Wisconsin tied an Illinois single-match record. Her 474 blocks are just 15 shy of fifth on the all-time Illinois career list.
Haen ranks 17th nationally in assists per set at 11.35 assists per set. She was named to the All-Tournament team at the State Farm Illini Classic after totaling 126 assists and engineering an Illinois attack that hit .409, .300 and .252, respectively, in three matches. She was named to the All-Tournament team at the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge after totaling 79 assists in victories over Louisville and Ohio. Haen has seven double-doubles this season and has engineered an offense that improved by 18 percentage points from a year ago (.246).
Bartsch is second on the team with 308 kills and third with 230 digs and is also seventh in the Big Ten in blocks at 1.11 per set. She had one of the most dominating performances of the season with 13 kills while hitting .812 in a straight sets victory over NCAA qualifer Ohio. That is the fourth-best hitting percentage in the Big Ten this year. Bartsch was named to the All-Tournament Team at the State Farm Illini Classic after posting her first career double-double (15 kills and 15 digs) in the championship match vs. nationally-ranked Saint Louis.
Johnson has been a solid blocker for the Illini, tallying 91 on the season while hitting .314 with 12 kills. She has started every match and is averaging 0.89 blocks per set. Johnson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Nov. 2 after hitting .536 with 18 kills and three blocks in wins over Indiana and Purdue. She had 10 kills and five blocks while hitting .588 in the victory over NCAA qualifier Louisville.
Illinois earned the No. 5 overall national seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosts IPFW in the opening round Thursday night at Huff Hall.
