Nov. 1, 1999
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini volleyball team welcomes Ohio State and Penn State to Huff Hall this weekend for a pair of tough matches in which Illinois will attempt to break out of its recent funk. In Illinois? first weekend against these two teams, Illinois lost at Penn State three games to none before beating Ohio State 3-2 in Columbus.
Scouting the Buckeyes: Ohio State is 5-7 in the Big Ten and 11-8 overall. OSU?s biggest win of the season probably came at Wisconsin, where the Buckeyes finished off the Badgers in five games. Ohio State is 2-4 on the road in the Big Ten. Rosie Snow leads Ohio State with an average of 3.96 kills per game. Freshman Katie Virtue has assumed the majority of the setting duties as she averages 12.61 assists per game.
Scouting the Nittany Lions: Penn State, 22-1 overall and 12-0 in conference play, is currently ranked No. 1 in the country after finishing second in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. PSU senior middle blocker Lauren Cacciamani leads the Big Ten with a .437 attack percentage while two-time All-American setter Bonnie Bremner averages 12.40 assists per game.
Illini Make National TV Debut: The Fighting Illini appear on national TV for the first time this season this weekend. Friday night?s match against Ohio State will be broadcast by espn2 on a tape delay basis. The match is scheduled to air on Sunday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. central time.
Illini Swept on the Road: The Illini were swept in Big Ten play on the road for the first time this season with a pair of losses this past weekend. On Friday night Illinois dropped a quick, three game match at Wisconsin and then lost a five-game heartbreaker to Purdue on Saturday night.
Spicer in the Big Ten Rankings: For the season, MB Betsy Spicer ranks second in the Big Ten conference with a .363 overall hitting percentage and she?s fifth in blocking with 1.31 blocks per game. In conference games only, Spicer ranks second in attack percentage (.342) and sixth in blocking (1.41 blocks per game).
Consistency Key for Haddad: Sophomore Shadia Haddad has been Illinois? most consistent, and productive, performer this season. She is the only player to reach double digits in kills in every match played and is also the only player to reach the 20 kill plateau. Haddad tallied 26 kills in Illinois? five-game win at OSU.
Spread Out Offense: Setter Melissa Beitz is doing a great job of spreading out the Illini attack. Five Illini average more than two kills per game and only one Illinois player, Shadia Haddad, has notched 20 or more kills in one night. Haddad has had 20 kills only once, in a career-high 26 kill performance at Ohio State.
Beitz Nearing Career Mark: Senior Melissa Beitz needs only 141 more assists to break the Illinois career assists record. With at least eight matches remaining, she needs to
average only 18 assists per match to break that record.
On the Tube: Illinois is 2-2 on TV so far this season. Illinois? matches against Penn State and Ohio State were both telecast locally while its match at Minnesota was broadcast by Fox Sports Net and the match at Wisconsin was broadcast in Madison on Midwest Sports Channel. Illinois is scheduled for one more broadcast this season, with its match against OSU at Huff Hall being picked up by espn2.
Back on the National Scene: Illinois jumped back into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 (at #23) on October 11 after being out of the polls the past three weeks. Before dropping out, Illinois had been ranked in the nation?s top 25 every week since Sept. 19, 1998.
Up Against the Best: Illinois is 3-2 against ranked opponents in 1999, having dropped its first match of the season to No. 11 Cal-Santa Barbara, three games to none and lost 3-0 to No. 2 Penn State before beating No. 25 Ohio State, 3-2, in Columbus, No. 18 Wisconsin, 3-0, at home in Huff Hall and No. 22 Minnesota, 3-1, in Minneapolis.
Spicer, Haddad Favorite Options: Junior Betsy Spicer and sophomore Shadia Haddad have been setter Melissa Beitz?s favorite and most successful options this season. Haddad is averaging a team-high 3.87 kills per game while Spicer is averaging 3.22 kills per game while hitting a team-high .363.
Argabright to Redshirt: The volleyball team has decided that freshman Lisa Argabright will redshirt the 1999 season. The 6?6? Louisville, Ky., native will not compete for Illinois until the 2000 season. She will continue to practice and travel with the squad.
The Huff Advantage: Illinois is 7-1 this year in Huff Hall and 4-1 in Huff against Big Ten competition. Overall, Illinois has a 179-39 (.824) record at Huff since the team began playing there in 1985.
Two Illini Earn Preseason All-Big Ten Honors: Seniors Melissa Beitz and Tracey Marshall were both named to the 1999 Preseason All-Big Ten team. Beitz is the returning assists leader in the Big Ten. She was named AVCA All-District a year ago after finishing second in the nation in assists. Marshall was a 1998 All-Big Ten pick and is on pace to break the Illinois career kills and digs records.
Illinois Picked Third in the Big Ten: In a preseason coaches poll, Illinois was picked to finish third in the Big Ten (behind Penn State and Wisconsin). A year ago, Illinois was picked to finish fourth and stayed true to form. The Big Ten volleyball coaches predicted the following order of finish: 1. Penn State, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Illinois, 4(T). Michigan State and Ohio State, 6. Minnesota, 7. Indiana, 8. Iowa, 9. Purdue, 10. Michigan, 11. Northwestern.
Illinois Ranked 14th Preseason: Ending the 1998 season ranked 14th in the nation, Illinoisearned that same ranking to start 1999 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association/USA Today preseason poll, released on August 12. Illinois is one of four Big Ten schools ranked in the poll: the coaches voted Penn State No. 1, Wisconsin No. 9, Illinois No. 14 and Michigan State No. 22.
Illini Return Four Starters: Despite losing five seniors to graduation, Illinois is returning four starters who have all earned Big Ten recognition at one point in their careers. Seniors Melissa Beitz (S), Tracey Marshall (OH) and Sara Sorrell (OH) all return along with junior Betsy Spicer (MB), one of the most effective blockers in the conference.
Another Tough Schedule: Illinois, which played the toughest schedule in the nation in 1998, faces another grueling schedule in 1999. In addition to stiff Big Ten competition that includes national runner-up Penn State, the Illini have matches scheduled against 1998 NCAA tournament participants UCSB, UNC, Utah, Louisville and Illinois State.
Hardin Enters Fourth Year: Head Coach Don Hardin is entering his fourth year at the helm of the Fighting Illini volleyball team. Hardin, a graduate of Illinois and former assistant coach, has posted a 63-45 record in Champaign. In 1998 he took the team back to the NCAA tournament and Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1995.
Quick Sets: Illinois took game two from George Mason, 15-0, on Sept. 10. The last time Illinois took a game 15-0 was against Delaware on Sept. 29, 1997 . . . Illinois currently ranks 11th in the nation in home attendance with an average of 1,723 fans packing Huff Hall for each match.
AVCA/USA Today Top 25
(Oct. 25)
Rk School LW
1. Penn State 1
2. Stanford 7
3. Hawaii 2
4. Florida 4
5. Pacific 3
6. Long Beach State 5
7. UCLA 6
8. UC Santa Barbara 9
9. Texas 10
10. Pepperdine 11
11. BYU 8
12. Colorado State 15
13. Nebraska 13
14. Clemson 14
15. Kansas State 12
16. Texas A&M 16
17. USC 17
18. Northern Iowa 19
19. Arizona 18
20. Colorado 21
21. Arkansas 22
22. Minnesota 23
23. Illinois 20
24. San Diego 24
25. North Carolina 25
BIG TEN STANDINGS
(as of November 1, 1999)
Big Ten Overall
1. Penn State 12-0/1.000 22-1/.957
2. Minnesota 10-2/.833 19-5/.792
3. Wisconsin 8-4/.667 15-7/.682
Illinois 8-4/.667 12-6/.667
5. Michigan St. 6-6/.500 16-8/.667
6. Indiana 5-7/.417 14-7/.667
Purdue 5-7/.417 13-8/.619
Ohio State 5-7/.417 11-8/.579
9. Michigan 4-8/.333 12-9/.571
10. Iowa 3-9/.250 4-15/.211
11. N?western 0-12/.000 2-20/.091
national attendance leaders
Rk School Average
1. Hawaii 7,363
2. Nebraska 3,443
3. Brigham Young 2,452
4. Penn State 2,466
5. Florida 2,374
6. Kansas State 2,210
7. Illinois State 2,184
8. Wisconsin 2,074
9. Pacific 2,056
10. Texas 1,992
11. Illinois 1,783
12. Stanford 1,758
13. Long Beach State 1,705
14. Minnesota 1,627
15. Northern Iowa 1,544
16. E. Washington 1,083
17. UCLA 1,083
18. Purdue 1,073
19. Texas A&M 1,054
20. Arizona 988
Illinois Volleyball Records to Watch
Career Kills
1. Mary Eggers 1,761
2. Mary Coleman 1,707
3. Nancy Brookhart 1,669
4. Tracey Marshall 1,548
5. Bridget Boyle 1,484
6. Tina Rogers 1,195
7. Erin Borske 1,192
8. Petra Laverman 1,181
9. Kristin Henriksen 1,144
10. Lorna Henderson 1,115
Career Attack Attempts
1. Mary Coleman 4,374
2. Tracey Marshall 3,898
3. Bridget Boyle 3,480
4. Mary Eggers 3,417
5. Nancy Brookhart 3,329
6. Petra Laverman 2,894
7. Lorna Henderson 2,772
8. Erin Borske 2,769
9. Tina Rogers 2,730
10. Denise Fracaro 2,591
Career Attack Percentage
1. Mary Eggers .420
2. Kirsten Gleis .385
3. Nancy Brookhart .378
4. Kristin Henriksen .362
5. Cristy Chapman .329
6. Betsy Spicer .322
7. Tina Rogers .307
8. Disa Johnson .304
9. Kelly Scherr .296
10. Laura Bush .282
Career Digs
1. Mary Coleman 1,393
2. Tracey Marshall 1,315
3. Sandy Scholtens 1,133
4. Mary Eggers 1,092
5. Petra Laverman 1,003
6. Disa Johnson 959
7. Bridget Boyle 951
8. Laura Bush 915
9. Barb Winsett 848
10. Lorna Henderson 838
Career Assists
1. Disa Johnson 5,550
2. Melissa Beitz 5,409
3. Barb Winsett 4,457
4. Merrill Mullis 3,661
