Sept. 29, 2000

Box Score

Champaign, Illinois - Illinois and Michigan both came into Huff Hall on Friday night looking to win their first Big Ten match of the 2000 season. The Wolverines accomplished the goal, defeating the Illini in straight games by the score of 15-8, 15-10, and 15-10 in front of 1,392 fans. With the loss, the Illini fall to 9-5 overall, and 0-3 in the Big Ten. Michigan, meanwhile, moves to 10-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Michigan raced out to leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in game one. After the Illini cut the lead to 8-4, the Wolverines took control, winning 15-8. Game two was more dramatic, with the the Illini leading 7-6 at midway through. Michigan then went on a 5-0 run, and eventually closed out the match with four straight points to win 15-10. In game three, Michigan seemed well on its way to victory with a 10-4 lead. Following a timeout, the Illini jumped back into the game, cutting the lead to 10-8 and forcing a Michigan timeout. The Wolverines got the momentum back and scored five out of the last seven points, winning the game 15-10.

Junior Shadia Haddad led the Illini with 11 kills. Freshman Lisa Argabright provided a spark off the bench with four kills and a .308 attack percentage. The Wolverines won the battle offensively, 63-39 in kills, and .336-.211 in attack percentage, .336-.211.

"Our ball control was fine for awhile," said Head Coach Don Hardin, "But after we'd establish a ryhthm we would give up five points in a rotation. Against good teams, we can't afford to do that."

Coach Hardin remains hopeful for his young team to bounce back.

"Our youth and inexperience is no excuse and we need to overcome the adversity. We will do a lot of individual work to improve."

The Illini's next match is tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall. The Illini host Michigan State, and the match will be televised by Fox Sports and shown tape delay on Monday night, October 2nd at 7:30 p.m.