Sept. 4, 2005

Box Score

Dekalb, Ill. - Illinois rapped up a successful weekend Saturday night winning the Northern Illinois University Invitational by defeating the Northern Illinois Huskies in three games by the score of 30-26, 30-24, 30-26. The Illini stay perfect on the season, moving to 5-0 with four victories coming from this weekend's tournament.

Senior Rachel VanMeter was named MVP of the tournament as she recorded 23 kills against the Huskies in the final game. VanMeter finished the final game with a .419 attack percentage. Junior libero Beth Vrdsky was also honored as she was named to the All-Tournament Team due to her impressive defense skills she exhibited in all four matches.

Along with VanMeter's ferocious kills, senior Rasa Virsilaite and junior Meghan Macdonald provided the Orange and Blue with 14 kills and 11 kills, respectively. Sophomore Stephanie Obermeier's sets were on target all match long as she assisted 48 kills.

Illinois and Northern Illinois battled it out in all three games. In a close first game, VanMeter recorded eight kills and had an attack percentage of .700. The score stayed tight and was tied up at 20-20 late in the game but three monstrous kills by VanMeter late in the game led Illinois to a victory of 30-26.

Macdonald and Virsilaite added to the offensive fury in the second game, each with four kills apiece. The team hit for a percentage of .350 and recorded 18 kills in the second game to defeat the Huskies by a score of 30-24.

VanMeter proved why she was deserving of tournament MVP status with nine kills in the third game. Virsilaite had a surge of offense of her own in the final game with six kills and a very critical serving ace to help Illinois defeat Northern Illinois 30-26.

The Fighting Illini finish the tournament 4-0 and are 5-0 on the season. Illinois returns to action Wednesday, Sept. 9 when they face Loyola at Huff Hall in their first home match of the 2005 season. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.