Sept. 6, 2000

Box Score

DeKalb, IL - It wasn't the prettiest match of the season, but Illinois eventually got what it was seeking when it traveled to Northern Illinois on Wednesday night: a road victory, as the Illini outlasted NIU in five games by the score of 7-15, 15-13, 6-15, 15-7, 15-12.

Illinois overcame a slow start and a sporadic offensive attack with strong defense and blocking to earn the win. The Illini fell behind 12-2 early in the match and lost the first game after hitting just .022 as a team. Game two went back and forth with the Illini eventually pulling away to tie the match at one game apiece heading into the intermission. Game three resembled game one as the Huskies came storming out of the gate. NIU led by as many as ten points and won the game to lead 2-1.

But with their backs against the wall, the Illini showed mettle and fought back. Illinois won game four thanks to a spark from sophomore reserve Anne Koester. Koester came off the bench and immediately made her presence felt by registering back-to-back kills. Koester's offense, along with the blocking of freshman Shelly O'Bryan led UI to victory in game four and forced the rally game. In the final game it was Illinois' serve-receive that made the difference as the Illini scored a point off of every Northern Illinois serve on the way to the fifth game victory that clinched the match.

"This was a tough environment to play in, and I'm proud of the way we hung in there and fought back," said Head Coach Don Hardin. "A lot of younger players saw their first extensive playing time in a pressure situation and I liked what I saw from them. Anne Koester did a tremendous job coming off the bench and really gave us some emotion.

"I think the team fed off of her energy and we really picked things up in those two final games. Northern Illinois is a good team and although we didn't play as well as we would have liked, we feel good walking away from here with a win."

Sophomore Sue Webber led the Illini with 20 kills and registered a double-double with 13 digs. Junior Shadia Haddad also tallied a double-double with 14 kills and a career high 18 digs, while senior Betsy Spicer just missed a double-double of her own, finishing with 13 kills and 9 digs. Koester, who pitched in with six kills, hit a team high .286 for the match.

The Illini outblocked Northern Illinois as a team by an impressive 19-8 margin. O'Bryan and junior Lydia Gard led the way with seven blocks each.

The setters split duties for the third match in a row, with freshman Betsy Eiserman starting and playing into the third game, tallying 31 assists. She was replaced by senior Heather Wilson, who finished out the match, recording 27 assists.

Illinois next travels to Chicago for the Loyola Tournament this weekend. The Illini play Central Connecticut on Friday at 5:00 p.m.