Oct. 18, 2002
Final Stats
Champaign, Ill. -
The Fighting Illini volleyball team dropped a tough, five-game decision tonight to the visiting Indiana Hoosiers, falling by a final score of 33-31, 15-30, 24-30, 30-24, 9-15 in front of 1,220 fans at Huff Hall. With the loss, Illinois moves to 9-7 on the season and 3-4 in the Big Ten. Indiana, meanwhile, improves to 13-6 overall and is also now 3-4 in league play.
After winning the opening game of the match, Illinois dropped the next two. But facing a 2-games-to-1 deficit, the Illini fought back to tie that match at two games apiece and force the fifth and deciding game. However, the Hoosiers controlled game five from the start, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Illinois found itself down by as many as six points and could pull no closer than four before Indiana sealed the victory on a kill by Christina Archibald.
Illinois was outhit .215-to-.071 on the evening, marking Illinois' lowest team hitting percentage of the season. Illini Head Coach Don Hardin attributed Indiana's defense, which out-dug the Illini 73-61 and tallied 14.5 blocks, as the key factor in the match.
Leading the way for the Illini was junior middle blocker Shelly O'Bryan. She tallied 12 kills on a match-high .417 hitting (12K-2E-24TA). But the Illini offense had trouble finding another consistent hitter to complement O'Bryan. In fact, the second-highest hitter for the UI behind O'Bryan was junior middle blocker Lisa Argabright, who hit just .103 for the match. Argabright tallied 13 kills and seven blocks, while junior outside hitter Melissa Vandrey tied Argabright for team-high honors in kills, also registering 13. Sophomore libero Lauren Harks led the Illini defensively with 19 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Kathleen Bazzetta tied her career high with 13 digs.
Sophomore Christina Archibald led Indiana with a match-high 23 kills on .306 hitting. Katie Pollom added 17 kills on .389 hitting and Melissa Brewer had 16 kills. Libero Hillary Toivonen tallied a match-high 22 digs to lead the Hoosiers.
Illinois is back in action tomorrow night, hosting the Ohio State Buckeyes (8-8, 2-5). The match will begin at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall.
NOTE: Tonight's Illinois-Indiana match was televised by FOX Sports Chicago and will air Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. CDT.
