Oct. 17, 2001

Final Stats

Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois volleyball team rolled to its fourth consecutive victory after a three-game sweep of the Indiana Hoosiers (30-25, 35-33, 30-12), Wednesday in front of 898 fans at Huff Hall.

The Fighting Illini improve to 12-5 overall, 5-4 in the Big Ten, while Indiana fell to 4-13 overall, 1-8 in conference play.

The Illini opened the match in a flurry, scoring the first-six points of game one. Sue Webber had a pair of kills and an ace by Shadia Haddad gave the Illini the 6-0 lead. Following a Hoosier timeout, Indiana responded by taking seven of the next 10 points to cut the Illinois lead to 9-7. The Illini were able to maintain their cushion most of the way, until kills by Indiana's Hillary Toivonen and Christina Archibald gave the Hoosiers their first lead of the night at 22-21. With the match knotted at 23-23, Illinois regained control as a hitting error by the Hoosiers and back-to-back kills from Webber and Lauren Harks pushed Illinois' lead to three points at 26-23. The Illini proceeded to win three off the next five points to claim game one 30-25.

Game two saw a back and forth struggle for control as the teams shared four lead changes and 22 ties in the contest. The largest lead enjoyed by either club was just three points, but the Illini were able to fend off Indiana for a 35-33 victory. Illinois secured the victory on its sixth game point, as Haddad took one of Betsy Eiserman's 38 assists on the evening and sent Illinois to the locker room up 2-0.

After earning hard-fought victories in the first-two games, Illinois dominated game three. The Orange and Blue jumped out to an 11-5 lead over the Hoosiers and never looked back. A pair of kills from Argabright spurred a 10-2 run for Illinois midway through the game as the Illini coasted to a 30-12 win.

After winning Big Ten Player of the Week honors for Oct. 15, Haddad continues to take her game to the next level in conference play. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native led Illinois in kills and digs, tallying 13 in each category. Also registering double figures in kills was 6-foot-5 middle blocker Lisa Argabright. Argabright totaled 12 kills, while hitting a match-best .429.

Illinois dominated the Hoosiers at the net, enjoying a blocking advantage of 20-5. The 20 team blocks recorded by the Illini in just three games tonight is four shy of the school record. The all-time Illini record for blocks in a match is 24 against Georgia in a five-game match in 1991.

The Illini have now won four consecutive matches and three straight in Big Ten Play, their longest winning streak since stringing together five straight conference victories during the 1999 season. Illinois returns to action on Friday, Oct. 19, traveling to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.