Nov. 3, 2001

Final Stats

Evanston, Ill. - The 25th-ranked Fighting Illini volleyball team made quick work of Northwestern tonight, defeating the Wildcats in straight games by the score of 30-20, 33-31, 30-23. With the win, the Illini improve to 16-6 overall and 9-5 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern falls to 8-13 on the season and 4-10 in the conference.

Illinois enjoyed one of its finest hitting nights of the year, hitting a sensational .425 as a team for the match. Superb passing allowed the Illini to hit .400 in game one, .441 in game two and .438 in game three. The .425 attack percentage for Illinois is its highest percentage in Big Ten play and second-highest percentage of the season, trailing only a .452 performance against George Mason on Aug. 31.

After a convincing victory in game one, in game two the Illini pulled off another in what is turning into a long list of memorable comebacks this season. UI trailed 14-20 midway through the game and faced an imposing 22-27 deficit before reeling off five straight points, four of which were served up by senior Amber Lindner, to tie the game at 27-all. It took four game-points before the Illini finally sealed the 33-31 victory on a block by Lydia Gard and Shadia Haddad. Game three went back and fourth and with the score tied at 20-20, the Illini then went on an 8-1 run to take a lead it would not relinquish.

Illinois' middle blockers were an unstoppable force throughout the match, as senior Lydia Gard and sophomore Lisa Argabright combined for 28 kills. Gard had a team-high 16 kills and hit an astounding .609 on the night while Argabright was nearly as effective, tallying 12 kills on a hitting percentage of .588.

Senior Shadia Haddad was also in double figures, adding 13 kills on .370 hitting. The Illini got a solid performance from right-side hitter Sue Webber, who hit .364 with five kills and set the tone for the team with a dominating performance in game one. Sophomore Melissa Vandrey provided a spark off the bench, chipping in with precision passing and four kills.

The Illini, winners of eight of their last nine matches, now look ahead towards a home stand next weekend against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents. The Illini face No. 11 Penn State on Friday, Nov. 9 and No. 10 Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 10. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall.