Nov. 7, 2003
Final Stats
Champaign, Ill. -
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In one of the more memorable volleyball matches ever played at Huff Hall, Illinois stormed back from a 2-games-to-1 deficit to defeat No. 20 Minnesota, the Big Ten leader, in five games. The Fighting Illini, backed by a raucous crowd of 2,002 fans, won by the score of 23-30, 30-23, 24-30, 34-32, 15-13. With the victory Illinois improves to 18-5 on the season and 9-4 in the Big Ten. The Illini are now just one game out of first place, behind three teams-Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin-who are all tied atop the conference standings at 10-3. The Gophers fall to 17-8 overall.
Illinois started off slow, never leading in the first game and falling behind by as many as 11 points. The Illini regrouped in game two when leading 18-17, the Orange and Blue reeled off five straight points, highlighted by four kills from Melissa Vandrey, to go up 23-17 and force a Gopher timeout. Illinois closed out the second game with a seven-point win to even things up at one game apiece at the intermission.
Minnesota controlled things throughout game three and looked to close out the match in four games. But Illinois came out hot in the fourth game by scoring the first four points and maintaining the lead nearly the entire game. In fact, Minnesota did not take its first lead until it went up 29-28 on an attack error by Lisa Argabright. The Illini survived three Minnesota match points and pulled out the victory on its second game point when a kill by Jessica Belter gave the Illini a 34-32 win, sending the match to a fifth game.
With Illinois up 7-6 in game five, the Illini scored four consecutive points during the pivotal point of the match on two kills by Melissa Vandrey, one kill by Shelly O'Bryan and an ace by Erin Virtue. That run seemed to put Illinois in the driver's seat with an 11-6 lead in the race to 15. It wasn't over, however, as Minnesota cut into the deficit and got as close as one point, 14-13, before a kill by Rachel VanMeter ended the match, giving Illinois the come from behind victory.
"This match was won tonight with a lot of heart," Illini Head Coach Don Hardin said. "We had our backs to the wall many times, but we showed determination and fight to pull through in key situations. We knew if we wanted to stay in the Big Ten race that we had to get a win tonight against a great Minnesota team. We saw great defense and hustle by both teams. The fans definitely got to seen an exciting match."
Minnesota did its best to slow down Illini middle blockers Lisa Argabright and Shelly O'Bryan. So Illinois turned to its outside hitters in left-side attackers Rachel VanMeter and Melissa Vandrey. The duo responded as VanMeter pounded a career-best 25 kills on a career-high 62 swings. Vandrey, meanwhile, added 22 kills while tying her career high in attempts with 63. Together, they accounted for over 60 percent of Illinois' offense on the evening (47 of 78 kills).
Argabright and O'Bryan each added 11 kills as Illinois had four players reach double figures. In a match that featured more than its share of sensational defensive plays, the Illini registered a season-high 93 digs as a team. Four UI players tallied double figures in digs, with two of those players-Kathleen Bazzetta and Beth Vrdsky-setting career highs. Bazzetta had a career-best 18 digs while Vrdsky also set a career high with 17 digs. Libero Lauren Harks tied Bazzetta for team high honors with 18 digs and Erin Virtue added 15.
Illinois is back in action tomorrow night, taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes (5-18, 0-13). The match begins at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall.
