Nov. 23, 2002

Final Stats

Champaign, Ill. - The Illinois volleyball team closed out the home portion of the 2002 season in grand fashion tonight, rolling past the Michigan Wolverines in straight games by the score of 30-21, 30-28, 30-25 in front of 1,110 fans at Huff Hall. Illinois snaps a four-match losing streak with tonight's victory and improves to 12-15 on the season and 6-12 in Big Ten play. Michigan meanwhile, falls to 15-13 overall and 9-9 in the conference.

Illinois registered nearly .300 hitting in the match, finishing with a team attack percentage of .295. The Illini cut down on their hitting errors dramatically, finishing the night with just 12 errors, compared to 29 for Michigan. The Illini outhit the Wolverines .296-to-.162 on the night. Illinois did a tremendous job serving, finishing with eight aces as compared to three for Michigan. The Illini also owned a commanding 13-5 advantage in blocking.

Before the match, the Illinois volleyball program honored its two seniors, setter Betsy Eiserman and right-side hitter Sue Webber. Both seniors went out in style, treating the fans to sensational performances in their final match at Huff Hall. Webber registered her eighth double-double of the season with 11 kills and a team-high 13 digs, while adding three blocks and four assists. Eiserman ran the offense with ease, setting up her hitters well and finishing with 39 assists. She also recorded four blocks and six digs.

"I thought our seniors played inspired and gave outstanding effort," Head Coach Don Hardin said of the performances by Eiserman and Webber. "And I think that got our whole team inspired. We made it a point tonight to keep the ball in play and go after it, and I like the result when we play that way."

Melissa Vandrey tallied a match-high 12 kills on impressive .379 hitting, her highest attack percentage in Big Ten play this season. Lisa Argabright had seven kills on match-high .400 hitting along with six blocks and five aces. Shelly O'Bryan and Jessica Belter were also effective, adding eight kills each.

The Illini wrap up the 2002 season with a pair of road matches next weekend. Illinois travels to Ohio State on Nov. 29 and Indiana on Nov. 30. Both matches begin at 6 p.m. Central Time.