Illinois heads to the Hoosier State
October 18, 2005 | Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2005
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Illinois at Purdue
Oct. 19, 7 p.m., Intercollegiate Athletic Facility, West Lafayette, Ind.Radio: Illini Sports Network (Dave Loane & Steve Layman)
Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 34-28... Purdue swept Illinois in 2004 for the first time since 1982 .... From 1974-84, Purdue held a 17-5 advantage. Since then Illinois has a 29-11 advantage in the series....Don Hardin is 13-5 vs. Purdue at Illinois... Purdue Coach Dave Shondell is 2-2 vs. Illinois at Purdue.
A look at the Boilermakers:
Purdue is the surprise team of the Big Ten this season. The Boilers are 16-3 on the season, 5-3 in the Big Ten. Purdue started the year 11-0, then lost the first three matches of the Big Ten season to ranked opponents, taking No. 4 Penn State to the limit in State College before losing 3-2 and dropping a home contest to No. 8Wisconsin in five games. Purdue has two wins over ranked opponents, No. 16 Tennessee (3-0) and last Friday at home against No. 9 Minnesota (3-1).
• With a No. 17 ranking, Purdue has its highest national ranking since 1986 and has been in the polls for the past five weeks.
• The player to watch is senior setter Renata Dargan, who has been named Big Ten Player of the Week twice, ranks 17th nationally in assists, and is hitting at a team-leading .421 clip.
Illinois at Indiana
Oct. 22, 7 p.m., University Gym, Bloomington, Ind.Radio: Illini Sports Network (Dave Loane & Steve Layman)
Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series, 45-14 and has won 34 of the last 40 meetings with the Hoosiers... Illinois won both meetings with Indiana last year, winning 30-22, 30-21, 30-27 in Champaign and 30-20, 30-18, 30-22 in Bloomington... Don Hardin is 14-4 vs. Indiana... Katie Weismiller is 6-16 vs. Illinois at Indiana.
A look at Indiana: Indiana is 8-12 overall, 1-7 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have lost six matches in a row since winning home matches with Michigan (3-2) and Evansville (3-1). A total of 17 players have taken the court for the Hoosiers this year. Eric Short leads Indiana with 272 kills.
ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE
VanMeter puts on display vs. Minnesota: Rachel VanMeter put on an All-America like display vs. No. 9 Minnesota on Saturday, going right at the top libero in the nation in the Gophers' Paul Gentil. VanMeter ended the match with 28 kills, 9 digs, 4 service aces and one block assist.Topping .200: Illinois became the first team to hit over .200 against Minnesota this season. Their opponents have included No. 1 Nebraska, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 8 Wisconsin. The Illini hit .205, which including .381 in winning the third game.
Road Warriors: While Illinois has struggled at home, going 2-5, the Illini have had its biggest wins on the road. Illinois is 5-2 in opponents' venus and 4-1 in neutral sites. The Illini put up two strong performances the last two weekends, coming back from two games down to win at No. 16 Ohio State and surging a gut-wrenching competitive match at Michigan State. The Illini also have win at Illinois State, Northern Illinois, and UNLV.
Taking a game: Illinois was just the second unraked team to take a game from Minnesota, joining TCU, who also lost 3-1.
MORE ON ROAD SUCCESS
The statistics back up Illinois' success on the road.
• The Illini are hitting .271 on the road compared to .174 at home
• Illinois has 46 service aces on the road compared to 37 at home in the same number of matches.
LEADER OF THE PACK
Rachel Van Meter leads the Big Ten in kills per game in both conference (5.23) and overall matches (5.73). VanMeter is the lone senior in the top ten. Of the other nine players listed four are freshman and five are sophomores.
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 moved to the setter position 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 SECOND NATIONALLY IN KILLS
Rachel VanMeter ranked second in the nation in kills per game. No Illinois player has led the nation in any statistical category.
As of Oct. 9. 1 Laura Jones, Texas A&M 5.77 2 Rachel VanMeter, Illinois 5.70 3 Lindsay Stalzer, Bradley 5.68 4 Kate McCullagh, NIU 5.67 5 K. Billingy, Marshall 5.57 6 Kelly Paiva, Fla. Atlantic 5.55 7 Katie Johnson, Michigan St 5.47 8 Kristen Carlson, San Diego 5.45 9 Tatyana Menshikova, SLU 5.41 10 Elizabeth Bishop, Cornell 5.17
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
This season, Rachel 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. 31 Volaluca, Nicole (MSU) at Iowa (10/1)
• Vrdsky was named to the NIU All-Tournament Team 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 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 1,391 7. Betsy Spicer 1,245 8. Shadia Haddad 1,228 9. Tina Rogers 1,195 10. Erin Borske 1,192VANMETER FAR AHEAD OF LAST YEAR'S PACECareer Attack Leaders 1. Mary Coleman 4,374 2. Tracey Marshall 4,208 3. Rachel VanMeter 3,697 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
Rachel VanMeter finished last season with 483 kills. This season VanMeter already has 401 kills. At this pace, VanMeter would end the season with 654 kills, which would be the second most in Illinois history behind Erin Borske's 714 in 1995. VanMeter has 1,021 total attempts, on pace for 1,665, which would surpass Borske's 1,612 from 1995. That would give her 4,341, just 33 shy of Mary Coleman's record of 4,374.
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.
• 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 109 kills from 1,500
• Beth Vrdsky is 41 digs from 750
• Vicki Brown needs 19 kills for 250
• Rasa Virsilaite needs 33 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.
Illinois picked fifth
Illinois is picked fifth in the conference behind four conference teams ranked in the top 12 in the nation. Defending conference champion Penn State, national runner-up Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio State garnered the first four positions ahead of Illinois and Purdue, who tied with for fifth. Michigan is predicted seventh followed by Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa, and Indiana.
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.
