Oct. 11, 2005

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Iowa at Illinois
Oct. 14, 7 p.m., Huff Hall, Champaign, Ill.
Radio: Illini Sports Network (Dave Loane & Steve Layman)

Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series, 42-12 and has a streak of five wins in a row...Since 1984, the Illini have won 33 of 40 meetings and have won 106 games to Iowa's 34...The last time Iowa took a game from Illinois was Oct. 11, 2002 in a 3-1 victory over the Illini...Last year Illinois won 30-19, 30-22, 30-16 in Iowa City as Illinois hit .462 and 30-24, 30-26, 30-28 in Champaign.

A look at the Hawkeyes:
• Iowa is in the middle of a resurgence under second-year coach Cindy Frederick. With a 12-7 overall record, the Hawkeyes have surpassed last year's win total of 10 and have won more games this year than any year since 2000. At 2-4 in the Big Ten, Iowa has won as many matches as all of last season.
• Iowa is going through a real youth movement with freshman Catherine Smale leading the Hawkeyes in kills (3.71), sophomore Stacy Vitali the top attack percentage (.287) and blocks (0.89), and freshman Emily Hiza tops in aces (0.28) and digs (3.81)

No. 9 Minnesota at Illinois
Oct. 15, 7 p.m., Huff Hall, Champaign, Ill.
TV: ESPN 2 (broadcast at 1:30 p.m. Sunday), Beth Mowins & Cathy Nelson
Radio: Illini Sports Network (Dave Loane and Steve Layman)

Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 33-19...Minnesota swept the Illini for just the fifth time in school history last year, winning 30-22, 30-28, 28-30, 30-16 in Minneapolis and 30-24, 30-26, 30-28 in Champaign.

A look at the Gophers: Minnesota is 15-2 on the season, 5-1 in the Big Ten. The only two Minnesota losses came to No. 1 Nebraska, in a five-game thriller in Minneapolis, and to then No. 10 Wisconsin, also in five games, in Madison.
• The Gophers are paced by one of the top defensive specialist in the nation in Paul Gentil, who ranks in the nation in digs (5.71)

Hebert vs. Hardin: The Minnesota match also renews a rivalry between two old friends. Illinois Head Coach Don Hardin was an assistant under Hebert at Illinois from 1983-87, helping Illinois to the 1987 Final Four and recruiting National Player of the Year Mary Eggers. Since succeeding Hebert at Illinois, the two teams have had a competitive series with Hebert holding a slight 11-7 advantage.

Remembering 2003 battle: Illinois has played some of its best volleyball against Minnesota at Huff Hall. Two years ago, the two teams collided in an epic battle with Illinois coming out on top in five games. The Illini came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the 20th-ranked Gophers. The Illini survived three match points to win game four then Rachel VanMeter closed out the match with a kill as the Illini won 23-30, 30-23, 24-30, 34-32, 15-13.

Illinois on National Television: Illinois is making its 36th national television appearance since 1988, compiling a 19-16 record, including a 4-7 mark on the ESPN family of networks. Last year Illinois defeated Northwestern 3-1 on ESPN2

ROTC night: Saturday is ROTC night at HUFF with cadets from all three Illinois ROTC units -- Army, Navy, and Air Force. Libero Beth Vrdsky is a member of the Air Force ROTC and usually has had a strong contingent from her unit in years past.

Illinois at a Glance:

VAN METER SETS TOP BIG TEN ATTACK MARK
• Rachel VanMeter has the top three attack performances in the Big Ten this year. She had 79 attacks vs. Illinois State in the season opener on Aug. 27, then topped that mark with 82 attacks on Sept. 30 vs. Northwestern. VanMeter topped that with 85 attack against Michigan State.
• The 85 and 82 attacks are fourth and fifth most, respectively, in school history and her 79 attacks are tied for seventh all-time. Erin Borske holds the all-time Illinois record with 92 on Nov. 24, 1995 vs. Penn State.

LINE-UP UPDATE
Lizzie Bazzetta made just her second start at setter during the Michigan and Michigan State weekend and is expected to start this weekend vs. Iowa and Minnesota. Because of injuries, Illinois has had some different line-ups. This is the second week practicing with the current line-up and the weekend saw a big improvement from Friday to Saturday.

Illinois has been without two of its players for parts of this season. Rasa Virsilaite had a procedure for a rapid heart rate this summer and wasn't cleared to play front row until a week before the season. Then on Sept. 16, Virsilaite broke her finger and sat out the next three matches (vs. Rice, Ohio State, and Penn State). She returned for matches vs. Northwestern and Wisconsin, but was cleared just to play back row. Virsilaite was cleared to play front row prior to traveling to Michigan and Michigan State.

• Freshman hitter Rachel Henderson missed eight matches in September with mononucleosis. She returned on Sept. 30 vs. Northwestern. She is starting at defensive specialist.

Five-game magic
A total of six of Illinois' 17 matches have gone to five games. Of those matches, the Illini are 5-1, which includes two wins on the road in the Big Ten -- at Ohio State and Michigan State. The Illini also have victories over Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, UNLV, and Ohio State. The loss to Northwestern was the first five-game defeat for the Illini this season.

VANMETER THIRD NATIONALLY IN KILLS
Rachel VanMeter ranked third in the nation in kills per game.
As of Oct. 2.

1 Kate McCullagh, NIU	5.82
2 Laura Jones, Texas A&M	5.74
3 Rachel VanMeter, Illinois	5.71
4 Lindsay Stalzer, Bradley	5.69
5 K. Billingy, Marshall	5.63
6 Katie Johnson, Mich. St.	5.60
7 Sara Radosevic, Tulane	5.59
8 Kelly Paiva, Fla. Atlantic	5.56
9 Kristen Carlson, San Diego	5.49
10 Tatyana Menshikova, SLU	5.42

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
This season, Van Meter:
• Earned the first Big Ten Player of the Week honor. She smoked the host Redbirds for an Arena Record 39 kills and 10 digs in 79 attacks for a .342 hitting percentage. That figure not only a) broke the arena record, but also b) ranks third best in Illinois history behind Erin Borske's 44 and 41, respectively in matches in 1995 and c) is tied for 10th best in Big Ten history.
• Earned the MVP award at the Northern Illinois Tournament, her third MVP honor of her career after totaling 89 kills and hitting .360 for the tourney.
• Was named to the all-tournament team at the UNLV Tournament.
• Has surpassed the 30 kills mark twice, including 32 kills vs. UNLV and 39 vs. Illinois State.

WHAT'S THE VRD?
• Beth Vrdsky has the second best digs performance by a Big Ten player this season.
1. 45 Nicole Colaluca (MSU) at Sacramento State (Sept.17,2005)
2. 36 Beth Vrdsky (IL) vs Eastern Illinois (Sep 16, 2005) 3. 33 Stesha Selsky (UM) at Georgia (Sep 16, 2005)
4. 32 Christie Gardner (NU) at Illinois (9/30)
5. 28 Volaluca, Nicole (MSU) vs. Michigan (9/21/05)
• Vrdsky was named to the All-Tournament Team at NIU after posting 58 digs in four matches.
• Vrdsky, a member of the Illinois ROTC, has earned a scholarship for her last two seasons.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Rachel VanMeter has moved into sixth in Illinois' all-time kills list. A season of 500 kills would move her into the top five. Bridget Boyle is currently fifth with 1,484.
• VanMeter is in a similar situation in attack attempts. Last year, VanMeter took 1,281 swings, fourth most in a season in Illinois history. If she duplicates that effort, she would move into third on the career attack list.

Career Kill Leaders	Kills
1. 	Mary Eggers 	1,761
2.	Mary Coleman	1,707
3. 	Nancy Brookhart 	1,669
4.	Tracey Marshall	1,657
5. 	Bridget Boyle 	1,484
6. Rachel VanMeter	1,349
7.	Betsy Spicer	1,245
8.	Shadia Haddad	1,228
9.	Tina Rogers	1,195
10. Erin Borske	1,192
Career Attack Leaders
1.	Mary Coleman	4,374
2.	Tracey Marshall	4,208
3. Rachel VanMeter	3,585
4. 	Bridget Boyle	3,480
5. 	Mary Eggers 	3,417
6.	Nancy Brookhart 	3,329
7.	Shadia Haddad	3,297
8.	Petra Laverman	2,894
9.	Lorna Henderson	2,772
10. Erin Borske	2,769

VANMETER LEADS BIG TEN IN KILLS
Rachel VanMeter leads the Big Ten in kills at 5.70 per game. The last Illinois player to lead the conference in kills was Erin Borske in 1995.

DYNAMIC DUO
Kayani Turner and Vicki Brown have emerged as forces this year for Illinois. The Illini team have dubbed them the Batman and Robin of the team, taking the court by force.
• Turner had an especially big tournament at UNLV with 48 kills in the three matches, including a career-high 20 kills vs. UNLV. Turner also filled in a pair of games vs. Austin Peay after Rachel VanMeter had been hit in the head with a ball. In that match, Turner had 16 kills.
• Turner had a string of eight straight matches with double-digits in kills (including 18 at Ohio State) snapped against Wisconsin.
• Vicki Brown, who played primarily the middle in high school, but was an outside hitter last year, is returning to the middle this season. She had 13 kills and seven block assists in the win over UNLV and is hitting .328 for the year, which leads the team
• Brown had a big weekend, hitting .500 with 19 kills vs. Michigan State and hitting .333 vs. Michigan.
• Turner and Brown are second and third on the team in kills per game.

MILESTONES NEARING
• Rachel VanMeter is 196 kills from 1,500
• Beth Vrdsky is 16 digs from 700
• Vicki Brown needs 36 kills for 250
• Rasa Virsilaite needs 47 kills for 400

FAMILY AFFAIR
With the addition of Lizzie Bazzetta to the squad this year, the family continues a tradition at Illinois. Her sister, Kathleen, was a four-year regular at defensive specialist following aunts Kathleen and Eileen Garland, who played volleyball for the Illini in the 1970s. Her parents, Bob and Mary Jean Bazzetta and several family members also attended Illinois.

RANKED STREAK CONTINUES
With the victory over No. 16 Ohio State, Illinois has now defeated a ranked opponent in 20 of the last 21 seasons, including 10 straight.
• The last victory over a top-ten team was Sept. 11, 2004, a 3-2 win over No. 1 USC.