Sept. 8, 2001

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The University of Illinois volleyball team dropped its first match of the season after No. 11 Florida defeated the Illini in three games to win the championship of the State Farm Illini Classic, Saturday in front of 1,625 fans at Huff Hall.

The first-two games of the match were back-and-forth affairs as the Gators and Illini battled to gain control of the match. Florida used a mid-game rally in game one gain control and was able to hold off the Illini by a score of 30-25.

Game two was much the same, as Illinois was able to get a lead midway through the match, but Florida stormed back into the lead and eked out a 30-28 win.

The emotional defeat in game two had lingering effects in the final game of the night as Florida claimed 30-14 win to earn the tournament title.

"We were in a different situation tonight then what we are normally used to," senior middle blocker Lydia Gard said. "When we go out, we are always the team that is more fired up to play and we are really emotional. Florida matched us on that emotion tonight and you can see why they are a such a great team. I think we have to learn that we can compete on this level and at times we showed we could."

Sophomore middle blocker Lisa Argabright led the Illini with 12 kills in the match. The sophomore hit a team-best .276 against a stiff Florida defense and added five blocks to help her earn all-tournament team honors.

Joining Argabright on the all-tournament squad, was teammate Lydia Gard. The Champaign, Ill., native finished the evening with eight kills and three blocks. Both Argabright and Gard earned their second all-tournament team births of the season as each was named to the squad at the George Mason Patriot Invitational on Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

The Illini return to action on Sept. 12, to do battle with intra-state rival DePaul in Chicago. Game time is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

All-Tournament Team: Lisa Argabright - Illinois, Lydia Gard - Illinois, Allison Cox - Butler, Tera Lobdell - Northern Illinois, Kris Bova - Flordia, Benavia Jenkins - Flordia, MVP : Aury Cruz - Flordia.