Nov. 28, 2004
Champaign, Ill. -
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Illinois has been invited to its 16th NCAA Tournament in women's volleyball. The Illini, who finished the regular season with a 19-10 record and placed fifth in the Big Ten, will play Louisville (28-2) in the opening round at 4 p.m. Friday in Columbia, Mo. Missouri, the 16th seed nationally in the tournament, plays Arkansas (17-15) at 6 p.m. in the other opening round match at Columbia. The winners of those two matches will play at 6 p.m. Saturday in the second round.
The match with Louisville is a re-match of last year's second round with Illinois prevailing 30-26, 30-26, 32-30 at Huff Hall to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Illini are 6-1 all-time against the Cardinals. Louisville finished 28-2 on the season with the only losses coming at #19 Arizona and at #24 Tennessee. The Cardinals have defeated #9 Pepperdine. Illinois Head Coach Don Hardin helped build the program at Louisville with a 192-76 mark from 1988-95, which included six NCAA appearances.
The Illini are 6-1-1 all-time against Missouri with the last meeting coming in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament, a 26-30, 40-38, 30-25, 30-27 victory for Illinois. The Illini are 2-1 vs. Arkansas, which included a 30-22, 30-21, 30-27 Illini victory this season in the C&C Services Tournament, hosted by the Lady Backs.
In 15 prior trips to the NCAA Tournament, the Illini have advanced to 11 Sweet 16s, including two under Don Hardin - in 1998 and 2003. Hardin has led Illinois to NCAA berths in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Illinois has two wins over Top Ten opponents in 2004 - USC and Ohio State
The NCAA Tournament seeds the top 16 teams. The First and Second Rounds are this weekend with Regionals being played on Dec. 10-11 at pre-determined sites. The winner of the Missouri Sub-Regional will advance to the Regional held at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky. The NCAA Final Four is Dec. 16-18 in Long Beach, Calif.
Illinois is one of seven teams from the Big Ten invited to the tournament. Penn State is the No. 2 seed and hosts American University; Minnesota is the No. 4 seed and plays Long Island at New Haven, Conn.; Ohio State is the No. 5 seed and hosts Dayton; Wisconsin is the No. 14 seed and hosts Loyola of Chicago; Michigan meets Rice at Austin, Texas; and Purdue plays at Colorado State in the first round. The Big Ten has had at least six teams in the tournament every year since 1997, including eight teams in 1999 and 2002 and seven teams last season.
Nebraska earned the No. 1 seed and would be the favorite to advance to the Sweet 16 opposite the Missouri Sub-regional. Penn State, Hawaii, Minnesota, Ohio State, Texas, Washington and defending champion USC round out the other eight seeds.
"It just shows how strong the Big Ten continues to be," said Illinois Head Coach Don Hardin. "We are coming off a stretch where we played three of the top five seeds in the tournament. Adding USC and we clearly had one of the toughest schedules in the country. Our players know that they have been exposed to the best and that has really helped prepare us for the competition we are going to see in the tournament."
On playing Louisville, Hardin said, "Even though we beat them in three last year, all three games were hard-fought. They will be ready to even the score with us I'm sure. We need to continue to raise our level of play to advance."
