Nov. 27, 1999

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois volleyball team closed out the 1999 regular season with a dominating win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, 15-2, 15-12, 15-4, in front of 1,508 fans at Huff Hall Saturday night. The win gave the Illini a record of 16-10 overall and 12-8 in Big Ten play.

Emotions were running high prior to the match, as Illinois honored its three seniors, outside hitters Sara Sorrell and Tracey Marshall, and setter Melissa Beitz. That emotion gave the Illini early momentum as they jumped all over the visiting Hawkeyes in game one. Iowa challenged UI with a comeback in game two, but fell short. After the intermission, the Illini closed out the match with a solid performance in game three.

All three of the seniors had memorable matches against the Hawkeyes. Tracey Marshall broke the Illinois all-time career digs record, previously set by Mary Coleman. Marshall came into the match five behind Coleman's 1,393 digs with 1,388. Marshall had a team-high 10 digs, to claim the record with 1,398.

Sorrell tied for the team high in kills with 11, and hit .500 for the match. Beitz, already the Illini's all-time career assists leader, added to her total with 43 in the victory.

Illinois hit .341 on the evening, compared to a dismal .101 for the Hawkeyes. Iowa had 25 attack errors, but the low percentage was mainly due to Illinois' fine defensive play and blocking. The Illini had 16 team blocks, led by eight block assists from Betsy Spicer and seven from Sorrell.

Illinois now waits to find out its fate for the NCAA tournament. Pairings will be announced tomorrow night at 9 p.m. central time.