Oct. 4, 2002

Final Stats

Champaign, Ill. - Despite a valiant effort by the Orange and Blue, the Illini lost tonight in straight games to 9th-ranked Penn State by the score of 32-34, 28-30, 24-30 in front of 1,390 fans at Huff Hall. With the loss, the Illini fall to 8-5 on the season and 2-2 in the Big Ten, while Penn State improves to 13-1 on the year and 3-0 in league play.

Games one and two mirrored each other, with both teams battling point-for-point the entire way. Penn State held an early advantage at 22-18. Trailing 23-20, the Illini rallied off five straight points on two kills by Lisa Argabright, one kill by Sue Webber, and two PSU attack errors to lead 25-23. With the Illini in front 26-24, it was Penn State making the next run, scoring four straight points on a kill by Mishka Levy and three consecutive kills by Ashley Pederson. But the Illini would not quit and took the lead back. In fact, the Illini were serving game point on four separate occasions, but each time the Nittany Lions answered. PSU notched the game one victory when tied at 32, an attack error by Sue Webber and a kill by Syndie Nadeau gave the Lions a 34-32 victory.

The Illini hung right with Penn State again in game two, as neither team could gain more than a three-point advantage the entire game. The Illini turned a 20-18 deficit into a 22-20 lead with four straight points coming from kills by Webber and Argabright, an ace by Webber and an attack error by PSU's Levy. Illinois owned its largest lead at 25-22, but then it was the Lions answering with a five-point run to take back the lead at 27-25. The Illini tied it at 27-all and were down by one when Cara Smith closed out the second game with a kill to make it 30-28 Penn State.

Illinois came out of the intermission strong, taking an early 8-4 lead. Penn State took its first lead of the third game at 10-9 and expanded it to a four-point advantage. But from there it was a back-and-forth affair. The Illini trailed by one at 25-24 when the Lions made the decisive run, scoring the final five points of the game to win 30-24 and close out the match in three games.

Sue Webber led the Illini with 13 kills on .286 hitting. She added seven digs and five blocks, and registered Illinois' lone service ace of the match. Melissa Vandrey and Lisa Argabright chipped in with 12 kills apiece. Penn State entered the match leading the nation in attack percentage at .348, but the Illini held the Nittany Lions to just .213 hitting. However, the one player the Illini could not slow down was Cara Smith, who had a match-high 14 kills on .550 hitting. Penn State outblocked the Illini 13-to-8 and enjoyed an 8-to-1 advantage in aces on the night.

The Illini return to action next weekend, on their first Big Ten road trip of the season. Illinois will travel to Iowa on Oct. 11 and No. 6 Minnesota on Oct. 12. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.