Nov. 10, 2000

Box Score

Champaign, IL - The Illini gave a great effort for the 1,358 fans that came to Huff Hall on Friday night, but the UI's upset rally came up short against the nation's 8th-ranked team, Minnesota. The Illini fell in four games, 5-15, 15-10, 17-15, 6-15. With the loss, Illinois moves to 12-14 on the season and 3-12 in the Big Ten. Minnesota, meanwhile, improves to 24-2 overall and 13-2 in the conference.

Don Hardin was forced to juggle his line-up yet again, as it was discovered yesterday that junior middle blocker Lydia Gard has a stress fracture in her right tibia. The good news is that there is a chance Gard could return to the lineup. But she did not play tonight, and instead redshirt freshman Lisa Argabright earned the first start of her career. Argabright put on a great display in her first start, hitting a match-high .500 with a career-high 12 kills and only two errors in 20 attempts.

Despite dropping the first two games of the match, Illinois mounted a gigantic comeback during the third game. The Orange and Blue fell behind 1-10 and at one point were down 3-13. But that's when the surge came, as Illinois slowly fought back and after staving off four match points by the Gophers, eventually pulled out the win 17-15, capping off a dramatic 14-2 run.

But Minnesota's blocking and serving was ultimately the difference in the match, as the Gophers outblocked Illinois 19-to-8. Minnesota also had 13 aces, compared to six for the Illini.

"I'm proud of the way our team fought tonight against a great opponent," Hardin said. "I'm also extremely grateful to all of the fans that have continued to come out and support us through this challenging time. They are motivation for us to keep working and playing hard."

Illinois had five players in double-figures. Junior Shadia Haddad had a team high 20 kills, sophomore Anne Koester had 11, and Betsy Spicer and Kate Hill each chipped in with 10. Spicer led the Illini with 15 digs and also had four blocks.

Illinois returns to action tomorrow night, with a match against the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall.