Oct. 16, 1999
MINNEAPOLIS - The 23rd ranked University of Illinois volleyball team capped off its best road weekend of the season with a convincing four-game victory over 22nd ranked Minnesota, 15-13, 15-6, 2-15, 16-4 in front of a crowd of 3,703 at the Sports Pavilion Saturday night.
The Illini went in with a game plan to stop the Gopher?s main weapon, outside hitter Nicole Branagh. Branagh came in as the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, and atop the conference statistically with 5.55 kills per game. But Illinois? game plan worked to perfection as the visitors kept track of Branagh?s every move and in the end forced her into one of her poorest offensive games. Branagh took 58 attempts with 20 kills and 11 errors, for a percentage of only .155. On Friday, she hit .415 with 28 kills against Indiana.
"We really concentrated on Branagh, we knew coming in that their game plan is to go to her over and over," head coach Don Hardin said. "We showed tonight that you have to be diversified to win these kind of matches. It came down to a competition of our outside hitters against theirs, and we won that battle."
Hardin is referring to the fact that Illinois? outside hitters Shadia Haddad (16 kills, .275 percentage) and Tracey Marshall (13 kills, .167 percentage) outplayed Minnesota?s OH?s Branagh and Yvonne Wichert (10 kills, .030 percentage)
Illinois most productive player on the evening was junior middle blocker Betsy Spicer. Spicer recorded 14 kills, with just two errors, good for a hitting percentage of .522. Setter Melissa Beitz and Spicer were a deadly combination, running the slide to perfection time and again.
Illinois jumped on the Gophers in game one and lead the entire way in game two. Minnesota came out fired up out of the locker room after the break and took game three easily, but the Illini regrouped and gutted out an emotional game win in game four to end the match.
"This was a huge weekend for us, playing at two tough places like Iowa and Minnesota," Hardin said. "Our players played with a level of consistency and focus that is hard to maintain when you?re on the road in the Big Ten.
"The best teams are the ones that can go on the road and win in this conference, that?s been proven year after year. Right now I?m so proud of our team to come away from this weekend with two wins."
Illinois now sits at 7-1 in the Big Ten and 11-3 overall. The team is in second place in the Big Ten, just one game behind Penn State. Illlinois returns home next weekend to take on Michigan State and Michigan.
