Dec. 11, 2006

Complete Final 2006 Illinois Volleyball Notes

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois volleyball saw several highs and lows during the 2006 season. On the high side were two tournament championships -- the State Farm Illini Classic and the Marquette Tournament and an upset of No. 16 Ohio State in convincing fashion at Huff Hall.

The Illini freshmen were impressive. Ashley Edinger stepped into the libero spot, starting all 30 matches and posting 488 digs, second all-time in Illinois history. Outside hitter Kylie McCulley, playing for the injured Kayani Turner, was impressive in her debut as a starter hitting .265 in a competitive match with the No. 2 team in the country, Penn State.

Unfortunately, injuries were a major story once again. Turner, who had missed the final six matches of the 2005 season with a stress fracture, suffered through a condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), which sends false pain signals through the nervous system. Turner played through the pain, which exasperated itself midway through the season. Despite that, Turner led the Big Ten in kills per game throughout much of the season and ranked as high as 14th nationally in that category.

The first big blow came just six matches into the season when Kristine Anderson, a sophomore starter at defensive specialist, suffered an ACL tear while practicing for the Illini's first match in North Carolina. Anderson had posted 31 digs in six matches.

The night before the final home weekend of the season, setter Lizzie Bazzetta broke her hand, putting the setting duties for the second time in three seasons to senior Stephanie Obermeier. Bazzetta ranked sixth in the nation in assists per game at 13.54 for a team that prior to a rash of injuries were in the top 20 nationally in kills per game.

Edinger and Bazzetta earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors throughout the season, both came after matches with Northwestern and Iowa.

The season began in impressive fashion with a 3-1 victory over Illinois State in front of the largest home crowd in over a decade. The promotion, called "Stuff Huff" drew 3,129 fans on a sultry night in late August.

Junior middle blocker Vicki Brown was the story of the non-conference season, earning MVP honors of the State Farm Illini Classic and the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament. Brown belted 45 kills and hit .413 in the Illini Classic, hitting for a .625 clip in a 3-0 victory over UW-Milwaukee.

The following week saw one of Brown's top performances in an Illinois uniform -- 18 kills and a .667 hitting percentage in a four-game victory over Ole Miss in Milwaukee. Brown emerged as one of the nation's leaders in attack percentage through September.

Illinois played eight teams that either won their conference or their conference tournament the year before and posted a 9-1 mark. The only blemish came against solid Wichita State, who overcame a 2-0 deficit to win.

Illinois' best weekend during the Big Ten season came Oct. 13 and 15. Illinois downed Ohio State 30-20, 30-24, 30-21 paced by 19 kills and a .459 attack percentage from an ailing Turner. The redshirt sophomore didn't play vs. Penn State, but McCulley had 19 kills and Brown added 11 vs. the Lions. Illinois had a pair of game points in games one and three before falling 34-32, 30-23, 32-30.

Senior Meghan Macdonald broke the Illinois single-game attack percentage record by hitting a perfect 1.000 with 12 kills in a 3-1 win over Indiana on Senior Weekend.

The Illini finished the season 15-15 overall, 6-14 and ninth in the Big Ten. Seven Big Ten teams made the NCAA Tourney, five advancing to the Sweet 16