Nov. 9, 2002
Final Stats
State College, Pa. -
Illinois' two-match winning streak came to end tonight in State College, Pa. as the Illini lost at No. 14 Penn State in straight games by the score of 27-30, 16-30, 22-30. With the loss, Illinois falls to 11-12 on the season and 5-9 in Big Ten play. Penn State improves to 20-5 overall and remains in second place in the conference with a 10-4 league mark.
Already without the services of junior middle blocker Lisa Argabright for the fourth-straight match due to mono, Illinois was dealt another blow when three-year starting setter Betsy Eiserman woke up this morning with a stomach virus and was unable to play in the match due to severe dehydration. That allowed for sophomore backup setter Erin Virtue to earn the first start of her collegiate career against the Nittany Lions. Virtue ran the team admirably, finishing the match with 34 assists.
"I thought Erin got some great experience running out team and did a wonderful job setting tonight," Head Coach Don Hardin said. "We've obviously had to deal with some lineup changes the past few weeks due to injuries and illness, but I'm proud of how our team has responded and dealt with the adversity. They are showing maturity under some difficult circumstances."
Illinois played its best volleyball of the match in the first game. The Illini took a 14-13 lead and extended it to its largest advantage of the game, six points, at 24-18. But Penn State answered with a 7-1 run to tie the score at 25-25. Two more ties followed at 26- and 27-all. The Nittany Lions then closed out the game by scoring the final three points on a kill by Mishka Levy, an attack error by Sue Webber, and a kill by Robyn Guokas.
The Illini trailed the entirety of game two in the only lopsided game of the match. Penn State hit .483 in the game, racking up 16 kills with only two hitting errors. The Illini meanwhile, had 10 errors in the game, hitting only .061.
Game three was a back-and-forth affair that featured 15 ties and five lead changes. The Illini trailed by just one point late at 22-23. But Penn State then ran off seven unanswered points to close out the match.
Shelly O'Bryan was the lone Illini player to finish in double figures in kills, recording 11. Sue Webber and Rachel VanMeter chipped in with seven kills each. The Illini were outhit .248-to-.067 for the match and were outdug 54-45. Three Illini notched double figures in digs, led by a career-high 14 from sophomore Kathleen Bazzetta. Webber tallied 11 digs while Lauren Harks added 10. Leading the way for Penn State was Cara Smith's 11 kills on .389 hitting and Ashley Pederson's match-high 12 kills. Pederson finished with a double-double, registering 12 digs.
Illinois concludes its current four-match road swing next weekend with a pair of away contests. The Illini face 13th-ranked Wisconsin on Friday, Nov. 15 and Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 16. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. Central Time.
