Nov. 21, 2006
Champaign, Ill. -
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ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE
Illinois (15-13, 6-12) at No. 5 Penn State (27-2, 16-2)
When: Nov. 24, 2006, 6 p.m.
Where: Rec Hall, State College, Pa.
Radio: WDWS Radio (Mike Koon, taped delay)
Series Notes: Penn State leads the all-time series, 29-8. The Illini won three out of five matches from Oct. 9, 2001-Oct. 10, 2003. Illinois has just one win at State College, that coming on Nov. 24, 1995, downing the No. 8 Lions in five games.
Penn State looking to close out Big Ten: Penn State stands 16-2 in the Big Ten, one game in front of second-place Minnesota. PSU can clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title with a victory over Illinois and can clinch it outright with victories over the Illini and Northwestern on Saturday.
More on Penn State: The Nittany Lions have been ranked in the top five all season, ranking number two from the pre-season until an Oct. 27 loss at No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 3 until a 3-0 loss at No. 23 Ohio State on Nov. 28. The Lions hold seven wins over ranked teams, including a 3-2 win at No. 7 Texas.
Freshman Megan Hodge leads Penn State with 448 kills. As a team. the Lions lead the nation with a .319 hitting percentage, while ranking third in blocks per game (3.59), 16th in kills per game, and 18th in assists (15.27).
McCulley, Illini gave Lions run last time out: Playing without the Big Ten's leader in kills, Kayani Turner, Illinois inserted freshman Kylie McCulley in the line-up for its Oct. 15 match with Penn State. McCulley responded by posting 19 kills and hitting .265 against one of the nation's top defensive teams.
Illinois had four game points in the match in a 34-32, 30-23, 32-30 defeat.
Illinois (15-13, 6-12)at No. 19 Ohio State (21-7, 11-7)
When: Nov. 25, 7 p.m.
Where: St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Radio: WDWS Radio (Mike Koon), taped delay
Series Notes: Ohio State leads the all-time series, 31-29...Two of the last three matches have been decided in five games...The Illini defeated OSU in five games last year in Columbus after being down 2-0...Illinois won the previous meeting this year 3-0 in Champaign.
Illini playing well vs. Buckeyes: In the past two trips to Columbus, Illinois has taken Ohio State to the limit, winning last year 27-30, 21-30, 32-30, 30-24, 20-18. In that match, the Illini rallied from down 2-0 in games and 20-18 in the third game.
• Illinois played perhaps its best match of the season Oct. 13 in Champaign. The Illini posted a convincing 30-20, 30-24, 30-21 victory over then No. 16 OSU. Ohio State hit just .083. Kayani Turner had 19 kills and hit .459. Meghan Macdonald had 10 kills, 10 blocks, and a .643 attack percentage.
More on Buckeyes: The loss to Illinois was the second in a stretch of seven matches that saw Ohio State go 2-5. The Buckeyes, however, are undefeated in the month of November, going 6-0 without losing a single game. This includes three-game sweeps of No. 14 Purdue and No. 3 Penn State. With victories over Northwestern and Illinois, Ohio State could defeat every Big Ten team with the exception of Minnesota at least once.
• Led by Marisa Main, who is hitting .356, OSU ranks 12th nationally with a .280 attack percentage as a team.
Illini strives for yet another winning season: With at least one win this weekend, Illinois can wrap up its 21st winning season in the past 24 years. Last year an impressive win over Iowa gave Illinois a 16-15 record. The Illini have never finished at .500.
Injuries continue for Illinois, Bazzetta out for the year: Another season full of injuries received another blow last week as sophomore setter Lizzie Bazzetta suffered a broken hand in practice on Thursday.
• Bazzetta entered the week ranked sixth in the nation with 13.64 assists per game.
• Stephanie Obermeier stepped into the setting role on Friday and had an impressive performance with 53 assists and a career-best 17 digs in a 3-1 win over Indiana. Obermeier served a similar role two years ago. In 2004, Pre-season All-American Erin Virtue suffered an ACL tear one week after the Illini upset No. 1 USC. Obermeier had 1,100 assists the rest of the year and ranked third in the Big Ten in assists per game.
Long-time teammates playing final matches: Meghan Macdonald and Beth Vrdsky have been close friends ever since they were in the same first grade class at Indian Trails School in Downers Grove. That friendship has included many memories on the volleyball court, from junior high to winning a state championship at Downers Grove South High School to starting for the University of Illinois. Now the duo is preparing for their two matches of volleyball together as seniors for the Illini.
Vrdsky and Macdonald's friendship lasted despite having to go to different elementary schools after first grade due to redistricting.
Vrdsky and Macdonald were both multi-sport athletes growing up. They played in the Downers Grove South Dolls softball organization in fourth grade. In high school Vrdsky played a year of soccer while Macdonald also played basketball.
They saw some time on the volleyball court as freshmen in high school in helping the Mustangs to the Class AA State title in 1999. DGS reached the Elite Eight all four years they were in high school, placing third in 2000. The Club Elite Team, who has many of the same top players at Downers South, also made a run at nationals in the 16 and under category.
Their most memorable year, however, came as seniors in high school 2002. Macdonald, who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Illinois, and Vrdsky were co-captains for the Downers South team that posted a 38-4 record and won the state title.
Macdonald sets Illinois single-match attack percentage: Senior Meghan Macdonald broke a 17-year old Illini record by hitting a perfect 1.000 in the Illini's 3-1 victory over Indiana. She had 12 kills in 12 attacks. That breaks the old mark of .941 set by Nancy Brookhart (16-0-17) in 1987.
• Macdonald did not start for one of the few times this season, but with Illinois trailing in the first game, she came into the match. Her two aces gave Illinois some momentum heading into game two despite a 30-20 defeat. Macdonald had eight kills in the second game, a 30-13 Illini victory, and totaled five aces for the match.
Macdonald sets career-high in blocks:
Meghan Macdonald had 10 blocks vs. Michigan on Oct. 27. She has moved into fourth in the conference in blocks per game (1.32) in Big Ten matches and eighth in the league in overall matches (1.19).
Illinois in NCAA Rankings:
• As of Nov. 12, Illinois is 29th nationally in assists (15.01). The Illini have been ranked in the top 30 most of the season.
Illinois serving prowess returns:
Illinois leads the Big Ten in service aces at 1.91 per game. The Illini are third in Big Ten matches (1.61).
Two Illinois players named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week:
• Ashley Edinger became Illinois' third Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in the past 12 months, earning the honor on Nov. 6. Edinger joins Beth Vrdsky who earned the honor late last year and Lizzie Bazzetta, who was named BTDPOW on Oct. 2.
Edinger's recent honor comes on the heels of great performances against Northwestern and Iowa with the match in Iowa City particularly spectacular. In the four-game win over the Hawkeyes, she eclipsed 30 digs for the second time this year with an even 30 as the Illini staved off Iowa by two points in each of the final three games, including a thrilling 39-37 triumph in the fourth and what turned out to be deciding game of the match. Edinger was nearly flawless on serve receive. With an unusually high 70 reception attempts, she committed just two errors for a .971 percentage, while adding two aces and two assists. Edinger also was strong in the Illini's four-game home defeat to Northwestern, where she had 18 digs, a .977 reception percentage, four assists and two aces.
• Bazzetta was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 2 following Illinois' victories over Northwestern and Iowa.
With 59 assists and 23 digs in the four-game victory over Iowa, Bazzetta posted her sixth double-double of the season which matches her six she had all of last season.
Bazzetta had 41 assists and a .911 setting percentage, her second highest percentage of the year against Northwestern. She played a major role in the Illini hitting for a season-best .336.
Edinger chasing Vrdsky's digs record: Ashley Edinger moved into second on Illinois' all-time single-season digs list with 471. She needs 49 digs vs. Penn State and Ohio State to tie Beth Vrdsky, who set the mark of 520 last season.
• Edinger also ranks fifth in the Big Ten in service aces with 0.38 per game, helping the Illini lead the conference in that category as a team. She is also third in the league in digs at 4.81 per game and recently completed a stretch where she didn't commit a reception error in four of five matches. Her 30 digs vs. Iowa are one off her career-high of 31, which she posted against Loyola. With 471 digs on the year, Edinger is still within striking distance of Beth Vrdsky's single-season record of 520 set last year.
Kayani Turner continues to suffer from RSD:
Kayani Turner continues to suffer from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. The condition which sends false pain signals first hit Turner during the spring following recovery from a stress fracture in her left leg.
Through treatment, Turner returned to the court for the fall, moving to the Big Ten lead in kills. But the condition presented itself again. Turner practiced much over the past five weeks and has completely missed three matches -- vs. Penn State, at Wisconsin and vs. Indiana.
Despite that fact, Turner has had some noticeable success:
• Until last week, Turner maintained her lead in the Big Ten kills per game in overall matches (4.73 per game), which also ranked her 20th in the nation. This week she has dropped to fourth in the league at 4.65.
• Her 19 kills and .459 hitting percentage helped Illinois to a three-game sweep of No. 16 Ohio State.
• She has totaled 25 kills vs. Charleston, 23 vs. Iowa and 24 at Michigan.
McCulley shines in place of Turner: Freshman Kylie McCulley has been the beneficiary of Turner's misfortune. McCulley made her first trip into the starting rotation against Penn State and totaled 19 kills and a .265 hitting percentage. That included nine kills in the third game against one of the nation's top five blocking teams.
Then at Indiana, McCulley entered the contest for Turner with the Illini trailing 20-6 in game one. McCulley had 22 kills and hit .222 in the last three-and-a-half games to lead the Illini to what turned out to be a convincing win.
• Since Oct. 15, McCulley has been in double digits in kills six times, including 21and 20 in back-to-back matches vs. Iowa and Northwestern.
Bazzetta ranks sixth nationally in assists: Lizzie Bazzetta ranks in the nation in assists per game at 13.64, behind only Courtney Thompson of Washington, who is at 15.02.
The Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament: Every year since 1997, at least six Big Ten teams have made the NCAA Field, including eight in 1999 and 2002 and seven in 2003 and 2004. In 1998, Michigan made the field with an 8-12 conference record and 16-13 overall mark and advanced to the second round. In 2004, Michigan and Purdue made the field with 9-11 Big Ten records. Purdue was 16-13 overall.
Vrdsky moves up digs chart: Earlier this season Beth Vrdsky became just the seventh player in school history with 1,000 digs. Last season she set the single-season record with 520 digs. Currently Vrdsky stands fourth with 1,146.
Illinois reaches Stuff Huff goal thanks to large student section: The Illini volleyball program set out to break 3,000 in attendance for the first round of the State Farm Illini Classic. The crowd of 3,129 was the largest since Nov. 6, 1993 when the Illini drew 3,161 vs. Minnesota. The crowd was also the first officially over 3,000 since Nov. 6, 1999 when 3,083 saw the Illini take on Penn State.
• Although no records are kept, the crowd was likely the largest student crowd in the history of Huff Hall. A total of 1,682 students used their
student IDs to see the Illini take on ISU.
Vicki Brown earns two Tournament MVP honors: Vicki Brown earned the MVP honors at the State Farm Illini Classic after amassing 45 kills and nine blocks.
• Brown earned the same honor after hitting .514 at Marquette.
• Brown has had been in double digits in kills in each of the first six matches and has at least 15 kills in four of the first six.
• In the first match of the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament, Brown had 13 kills with no errors in 15 attempts during the final three games of the match for a .867 attack percentage. She hit .667 overall for the match and .514 for the tournament.
Air Force ties: In March, Illinois junior Beth Vrdsky got the news she's been waiting most of her life to hear - she is one of the elite that has been selected into the Air Force Academy flight school. Ever since seeing the movie "Top Gun" as a youngster, Vrdsky has aspired to one day fly a fighter jet.
Vrdsky will finish her career both academically and athletically this season, and will leave for flight school to fulfill her dream. Vrdsky is one of 520 cadets selected into flight school out of all the ROTC programs nationwide. Illinois head coach Don Hardin, an Air Force veteran himself, was there to congratulate Vrdsky.
Beth Vrdsky featured in Big Ten's 25th Anniversary Video
This year the Big Ten is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Big Ten Women's Athletics. One of the components of the celebration is a PSA campaign titled "This is My Big Ten Story." The conference selected 11 athletes, one from each school, past or present.
Beth Vrdsky represents Illinois as she tells of her dream of becoming a fighter pilot. One of the top rated cadets in the University of Illinois' ROTC program, Vrdsky received one of a select group of invitation to the competitive Air Force Flight School. She will begin training following graduation next year.
