Nov. 19, 1999

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The University of Illinois volleyball team saw its two-match winning streak come to an end against the University of Michigan on Friday night. The Illini lost in four games by the score of 10-15, 15-7, 12-15, 11-15. With the loss, Illinois sits at 14-9 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten conference.

The Illini were led by freshman outside hitter Sue Webber. Webber came off the bench in game one and played the rest of the match, recording a career-high 22 kills in 40 attempts, good for an attack percentage of .350. Along with leading the Illini in kills, Webber also led the team digs with 15, to record a double-double.

?Sue came in off the bench and really gave us a lift tonight,? head coach Don Hardin said. ?She?s done the job all season, and has really earned the opportunity to be in the lineup.? Junior middle blocker Betsy Spicer added 15 kills and hit an impressive .429. Shadia Haddad and Lydia Gard also tallied double figures in kills, with 15 and 12 respectively. ?This is gut-check time for us now,? Hardin said. ?We played hard but didn?t get the result we wanted. We have to bounce back and be ready for Michigan State tomorrow.?

Illinois came out of the blocks slowly, as Michigan jumped out to leads of 11-3 and 13-4. Sue Webber was then inserted into the game for Marshall, and Webber provided the spark the Illini needed, contributing four kills as the Illini fought back to within four points on two separate occasions. But at 14-10, UM?s Nicole Kacor served up an ace for the game winning point. Game two was a much different story, as Illinois became much more aggressive, especially on the serving end. The Illini picked on the passing of Michigan?s Kacor, and it worked as the Orange and Blue racked up five aces in game two alone. UI jumped out to a comfortable 7-2 lead and held on for a 15-7 win. Illinois carried the momentum from game two into game three, building an early lead of 10-3. But Michigan went on a run, scoring five points in a row to make it 10-8. Illinois grabbed a three point margin at 12-9 after Melissa Beitz won a joust at the net, prompting the Wolverines to call a time-out. After the time-out, it was all Michigan, as the hosts scored six unanswered points to take game three. Three of the six points came on Illini attack errors, and two more UM points came from kills after overpasses from UI. The Illini battled Michigan point for point in the final game, tying the score on ten different occasions. But with the score tied at 11-all, Michigan scored the final four points to seal the match. Illinois next takes on Michigan State in East Lansing tomorrow night at 6 p.m.