Oct. 26, 2001

Final Stats

Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois volleyball team earned its first victory of the season over a ranked opponent after a three-game sweep of No. 21 Minnesota Friday night in front of 1,165 fans at Huff Hall.

The Fighting Illini improve to 14-5 overall, 7-4 in the Big Ten, winning the match by the scores of 30-21, 30-24 and 30-21, while the Gophers fall to 11-8 overall, 5-6 in conference play.

Illinois earned the sweep after hitting an impressive .316 for the match. That's the second highest hitting percentage this season for the Illini in conference play, as they earned their first win over a ranked foe since Nov. 3, 2000, when they defeated #22 Michigan State in five games in East Lansing, Mich.

Illinois trailed just three times in the entire match, each time by one point, as they were able to hold off any chance of a Minnesota rally.

Game one saw the Illini jump out to an early 6-1 lead after a pair of kills from freshman outside hitter Lauren Harks. The Gophers did cut the Orange and Blue lead to one at 7-6 after a Lindsey Berg kill, but that would be as close as they could get. Illinois rattled off three consecutive points to push their lead to 11-6 and never looked back. The Illini hit .359 to cruise to a 30-21 win.

Game two saw the Illini continue their hot hitting as they out-hit Minnesota .342-to-.091. Leading 8-6 early in game two, senior middle blocker Lydia Gard led the Illinois surge by registering three consecutive kills to push the Illini lead to five at 12-7. Illinois went on to score the next three points to push their lead to eight at 15-7 before finishing off Minnesota 30-24.

Illinois sealed its sixth straight win and fifth consecutive Big Ten victory, its longest conference winning streak since the 1999 season, after again holding Minnesota to just .091 hitting in the third game. Tied at 5-5 in game three, Illinois scored five straight points to move its lead to 10-5. Shadia Haddad had a pair of kills during the stretch as Illinois won the game and the match 30-21.

Gard hit .500 on the night in registering a match-high 12 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Lisa Argabright joined Gard in double figures with 11 kills. Sue Webber added nine kills in the Illinois effort while hitting .368. The Herscher, Ill., native added four digs and a pair of blocks to cap the evening.

The Illini return to action on Saturday, Oct. 26 when they host the Iowa Hawkeyes. Game time is slated for 7 p.m at Huff Hall.