Nov. 16, 2005

Final Stats

Champaign, Ill. - Rachel VanMeter tied her career high with 39 kills and set a new school record with 99 attacks as Illinois defeated 18th-ranked Purdue 28-30, 30-19, 30-24, 28-30, 15-12 Wednesday night at Huff Hall. The old attack record belonged to Erin Borske, who had 92 attacks on Nov. 24, 1995 vs. Penn State. VanMeter also joins Borske as the only two players with at least 36 kills in two-different matches. VanMeter also had 39 kills in the season opener against Illinois State.

"It's nice to go down in history, but I'm more excited about the win to tell you the truth," VanMeter said. "I just focused on jumping as high I could, hitting the ball as hard as I could, and finding a way to get the kill."

"Just to set her nearly 100 balls is remarkable," Hardin said. "That's a lot of jumps and swings. It just shows her stamina and physical toughness."

Illinois made a near comeback in game one and used that momentum to win the next two games. Meghan Macdonald had 14 kills and hit .357 while Vicki Brown added 12 kills and a tied a career high with six blocks. Beth Vrdsky had her third match this year with at least 30 digs finishing with 31.

Illinois also had 11 aces, three each from Rasa Virsilaite and Lizzie Bazzetta. "Mary Hambly did a great job of calling our service game," Hardin said. "That got them back on their heels. They were passing as more poorly than they're used to."

The Illini overcame four service errors and a .000 hitting percentage to nearly pull out game one. Purdue built a 17-11 lead, only to see the Illini close to within 18-16. The point came on a Rachel Henderson, Meghan Macdonald block. Purdue took charge again at 27-20 before Illinois scored six straight points, five on the serve of Vrdsky. VanMeter and Macdonald had big swings and Vrdsky converted an ace. The teams exchanged points from there with Purdue eking out the win. VanMeter had eight kills in the game, while Macdonald had three kills and hit .600. The Illini used four team blocks to Purdue's five. Purdue hit .135 for the game.

The Illini used the momentum for the end of game one into game two. VanMeter was again impressive with 10 kills in the second game. Combined with the end of the first game and the beginning of the second game, Illinois scored 33 of 49 points and took a commanding 25-13 advantage. At one point with the Illini holding a 10-5 lead, Illinois had eight kills in 10 swings for a .800 percentage in that game. Illinois wound up hitting .333 in game two compared to just .103 for Purdue. Rasa Virsilaite had four kills in six swings to back VanMeter's impressive output.

The teams traded side-outs through most of the third game until Virsilaite, the team leader in aces, put forth a stellar serving performance, serving seven straight points, three on aces as the Illini turned a 19-19 tie into a 27-19 Illinois lead. Purdue closed to within 28-24, but a Macdonald-Henderson block closed the game for the Illini. VanMeter had nine kills and 24 attacks in leading the Illinois charge.

Purdue won a competitive game four that had 15 ties setting up the fifth and deciding game. Illinois fell behind 3-0 in that game, then out-scored Purdue 9-2 to take a 9-5 lead. VanMeter's service ace gave the Illini that lead. Purdue battled back to tie the score at 11. Fittingly, VanMeter scored three of the last four Illinois points, including the clincher.

"We just wanted to focus on playing great volleyball and not worry about the outcome," VanMeter said. "We had a meeting this week and had to decide how to approach the rest of the season. We decided we just wanted to have fun and just play solid volleyball."

Purdue actually out-hit Illinois, .182-.172, led by 16 points from Danita Merlau and 15 kills from Samantha Mader. But Illinois got the key points when it counted.

"It's good to see how we closed out with the nice decisive kill," Hardin said.

Illinois closes out the home schedule Friday night against Indiana.