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September 1 vs. Illinois State
Huff Hall, Champaign, Ill. 7 p.m.
Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 29-22, but Illinois has been dominant of late, winning of 14 of the last 15 meetings. ISU's only win in that span came in 1996. Illinois has only lost nine games in those 15 meetings dating back to 1985.
Last Meeting: Illinois defeated Illinois State, 3-1 (29-31, 30-27, 31-29, 30-24) in the season opener last year at the Barker GMC Classic in Normal. Melissa Vandrey (19) and Rachel Van Meter (17) combined for 36 kills. Illinois trailed 27-25 in game two before rattling off five straight points and 29-27 in game three before doing likewise.
Scouting Illinois State: The Redbirds open the season as well Wednesday after posting a 19-14 record and finishing fourth in the Missouri Valley last year. The Redbirds return six starters from that club and is expected to be one of the contenders in the Valley. Like Illinois, the Redbirds return one of the top setters in school history in Kelly Rikli who needs 76 assists to become just the fourth player in ISU history with 3,000 for her career. Rikli's top targets will be junior hitters Laura Doornbos (452 kills in 2003) and Emily Kabbes (425 kills in `03).
Illinois in season openers: Illinois is 6-2 in season openers under Head Coach Don Hardin, and are 8-0 in home openers. Ironically the first match of the Hardin era, a 3-1 loss to Illinois State in Normal, was avenged three days later with a 3-1 victory over the Redbirds at Huff Hall.
Student Barbecue: All Illinois students are invited to a pre-match barbecue outside Huff Hall and all students will be admitted free.
Sept. 3-4, Hurricane Invitational
Knight Sports Complex, Coral Gables, Fla.
Series Notes: Illinois plays Bowling Green on Friday and Rice and Miami on Saturday. The Illini have not played any of the three schools in the tournament.
Illinois in Pre-conference Tourneys: Illinois won two of the three pre-Big Ten Tournaments last year, going 7-1 in those matches. The only loss came to nationally ranked Nebraska at the Illinois State Tournament. Illinois won the State Farm Illini Classic and the University of Connecticut Tournament a year ago, dropping just one game in those matches.
Erin Virtue was named to the all-tournament team in all three events last year with Lisa Argabright being named MVP at Connecticut and the Illini Classic.
Argabright faces old team: Speaking of Lisa Argabright, Illinois will face Miami on Saturday night. On the bench will be last year's team MVP Lisa Argabright. After going through an internship with the Illinois event management staff last semester, Argabright decided to pursue coaching, and has landed as a full-time assistant coach to Miami coach Nicole Lantagne Welch.
The schedule: The tournament is a round robin format with the Illini facing Bowling Green at 2:30 p.m. CST on Friday, Rice at 9 a.m. CST Saturday and host Miami at 6 p.m. CST on Saturday.
Loane begins year 17: Considered one of the top voices of volleyball in the country, Dave Loane begins his 17th season calling Illinois volleyball games along the Illini Sports Network.
A Look Back
• Illinois is coming off a 26-7 season in which the Illini placed second in the Big Ten and advanced to the Sweet 16.
• Lisa Argabright and
Erin Virtue became Illinois' seventh and eighth All-Americans last year. Argabright earned third team honors, while Virtue was an Honorable Mention selection.
• The Illini went 14-1 at Huff Hall last year and defeated every Big Ten team on the season. Illinois averaged 1,598 fans at home a year ago, which ranked 14th in the nation. Six Big Ten teams were in the top 20 -- Wisconsin (2), Penn State (4), Minnesota (6), Illinois (14), Michigan State (18) and Purdue (20).
• Illinois won two in-season tournaments, winning the State Farm Illini Classic for the 14th time in 21 years and claiming the University of Connecticut Tournament crown.
• Illinois returns four starters from a year ago, including Virtue. Outside Hitters Rachel Van Meter and
Jessica Belter each were dominating at times last year. VanMeter had several match points, including in the victory over Minnesota.
Jessica Belter was named AVCA National Player of the Week after victories over Michigan State and Michigan.
#1 USC to play
in Illini Classic
Illinois welcomes top-ranked USC to Huff Hall next week to participate in the State Farm Illini Classic. USC has won 47 matches in a row and lost just one match the past two seasons in winning back-to-back NCAA titles. USC opens the tournament against American University with the host Illini meeting Miami of Ohio on Friday, Sept. 10. The winners play for the title on Saturday.
Defense sets the tone
It's no secret that one of the strengths of this Illini team will be its defense after allowing opponents to hit just .184 against them last year. All pieces from the back row are back once again. Senior
Lauren Harks, a converted outside hitter, stepped into the libero position and is one of the top passers in the Big Ten, averaging 3.28 digs per game a year ago. Senior
Kathleen Bazzetta and junior sophomore
Beth Vrdsky also return. Bazzetta ranked 20th in the Big Ten in digs per game (2.63).
Excellence is a Virtue
Erin Virtue joins a long line of successful setters at Illinois. Virtue was named to every all-tournament team in 2003, earned All-Big Ten honors, All-Region accolades and was an Honorable Mention All-American. Virtue ranked second in the Big Ten in assists per game last year by the narrowest of margins. Wisconsin's Morgan Shields led the league at 13.57 with Virtue second at 13.56.
The Illini volleyball team had a combined 3.39 GPA during the Spring semester, marking the 13th straight semester that the team GPA has been 3.0 or higher.
Duo set to fill middle blocker spots
One of the question marks coming into the season was being able to fill the spots vacated by graduating seniors Lisa Argabright and Shelly O'Bryan up front. Although they are young, the duo of redshirt freshman
Jen Hynds and sophomore
Meghan Macdonald appear ready to step into the starting role. Macdonald was the 2002 Gatorade Player of the Year in Illinois while Hynds was also listed among
Volleyball Magazine's Fab 50 recruits.
