Dec. 2, 1999

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Illinois volleyball team earned a birth in the second round of tournament play, following a victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee in four games, 15-13, 15-10, 15-12, 15-6 Thursday evening in East Region play on the University of Florida campus. With the victory, Illinois advances to face the East's #2 seed, Florida.

Illinois had a good night offensively, and that was the key to the match according to senior outside hitter Sara Sorrell.

"Our serve-receive was great tonight, and that set the tone for us on offense," said Sorrell who had 12 kills. "When we do a good job of getting Melissa the ball, it makes things so much easier and she knows where to distribute the ball from there."

Setter Melissa Beitz had plenty of options to go to on the night, and she used them all. Middle blockers Betsy Spicer and Lydia Gard led the way, with 18 and 17 kills respectively. Gard had the highest attack percentage, hitting over .500 in the match. Senior Tracey Marshall was right behind with 16 kills, and Shadia Haddad matched Sorrell with 12 kills as well.

"Florida will be a tough. They play well in their gym and we're going to have to come out ready to play tomorrow," Sorrell said of Illinois' upcoming tournament opponent. "It should be a great match."

Illinois and Florida will square off tomorrow at 6 p.m. central time. The winner advances to the Sweet 16.