Sept. 10, 2005
Box Score
Las Vegas, Nev. -
After suffering their first loss of the season earlier Friday evening in the first match of the UNLV Classic, the Fighting Illini pulled out a 3-2 thriller against the Running Rebels of Las Vegas (30-22, 22-30, 30-26, 26-30, 15-12).
For the second time in one day, senior Rachel VanMeter led the way for the Illini with 32 kills and an attack percentage of .365. Along with the offensive attack of VanMeter, the dynamic duo of sophomore's Kayani Turner and Vicki Brown managed to finish an aggressive UNLV team in five games. Brown finished the match with 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .450 while Turner recorded 20 kills with an attack percentage of .306.
Junior libero Beth Vrdsky had a career game with 29 digs, improving on her previous record of 23 that she set against Austin Peay earlier in the season. Sophomore Stephanie Obermeier recorded a season-high 62 assist in the five games.
The Orange and Blue started their second match of the day with an impressive showing in the first game. VanMeter had seven kills while Turner (3), Brown (3) and junior Meghan Macdonald (2) all contributed with kills of their own. Illinois ended the first game without difficulty by a score of 30-22.
The dominant Illinois team that showed up to make a statement in game one did not show up in game two. The Rebels capitalized on many Illini mistakes early in the game and Illinois seemed to have no luck. The Orange and Blue managed to finish the game with only a .182 attack percentage as they fell to the Rebel by a score of 22-30.
The third and four games were well played by both teams and were battles to the very end. VanMeter and Turner each had seven kills apiece to lead the Illini to a 30-26 victory. VanMeter would kill eight more balls in the fourth game but Illinois lost 26-30.
The Illini were the first team to score 10 points in the fifth and final game of the match. VanMeter supplied four kills with three more coming from Turner. The Rebels managed to crawl back to a score of 10-9, but two vicious blocks by Brown would lengthen the Illinois lead. VanMeter finished the game with a dominant kill to end the game at 15-12.
The Fighting Illini return to action Saturday, Sept. 10 in Las Vegas to face Rutgers in the UNLV Classic at 5 p.m. CT.
