Sept. 8, 2000

Box Score

Chicago, IL - Illinois began the Loyola Invitational Tournament with a dominating, straight games victory over Central Connecticut State on Friday at Loyola's Alumni Gym by the score of 15-4, 15-10, 15-4. The Illini used a powerful offensive attack and aggressive serving to down the Blue Devils.

Illinois hit a season high .443 for the match, while limiting Central Connecticut to just .071. And while serving had been a problem in the past few matches for the Illini, against the Blue Devils the Orange and Blue erupted for a season high 13 service aces, compared to just six errors. Junior Amber Lindner led the way with a career high five aces.

Outside hitters Sue Webber and Shadia Haddad were the main cogs on offense, combining for 22 kills. Each player registered a new career high in attack percentage, Webber hitting .588 (12 kills, 2 errors in 17 attempts) and Haddad hitting .500 (10 kills, 1 error in 18 attempts). Middle blocker Betsy Spicer also hit .500 for the match, recording nine kills.

Sophomore Anne Koester, who sparked the Illini on Wednesday night at Northern Illinois, was rewarded with her first career start. Koester responded with another impressive performance, tallying six kills and two blocks.

As had been the case in the prior three matches, Head Coach Don Hardin rotated both setters into the lineup. Sophomore Betsy Eiserman earned the start and played the first two games, tallying 19 assists. Senior Heather Wilson replaced Eiserman in the third game, with Wilson garnering 11 assists.

Illinois plays two matches on Saturday against teams that participated in last season's NCAA Tournament. The Illini take on Hardin's former team, the Louisville Cardinals, at 11 a.m. then play the host Loyola Ramblers in the tournament finale at 5:30 p.m.