Aug. 25, 2006

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - An electric crowd of 3,129, the largest opening day crowd in years, fed the energy that helped propel Illinois to a 30-26, 30-20, 28-30, 30-24 victory over Illinois State. The match in the opening round of State Farm Illini Classic marked the fourth straight year the Illini opened with a victory over the Redbirds.

"I think the story of tonight was the crowd," said Illinois Head Coach Don Hardin. "I don't think very many schools in the country have the same student support that we have at Illinois. They were the difference tonight."

The Fighting Illini took the court with five new starters from 2005. The night saw the emergence of two budding stars in the Big Ten in sophomore Kayani Turner and junior Vicki Brown. Turner paced the Illini offense with 17 kills and a .333 hitting percentage while Brown added 16 kills while hitting .281. Sophomore Lizzie Bazzetta spread the offense around well, using the backslide and the middles to her advantage.

The newcomers made their presence felt. Junior Amy Palash had five of her nine kills in the third game as Illinois erased a six-point deficit only to see ISU pull out the game. Freshman Ashley Edinger didn't play as if it were her collegiate debut, pacing Illinois defensively with 12 digs and a jump serve that led to three aces, tying Palash for the team lead.

"We are a different team this year," said Turner. "All of our newcomers have done a great job and we have great team chemistry."

Illinois used the arm of Turner in the first game to overcome an early 11-9 deficit. Behind a pair of kills from Turner and a scintillating putaway by Brown, Illinois went on an 11-3 run to take an 18-14 lead. Neither team hit that well in the opening game with the Illini holding a slight edge .147-.118, but six Redbird service errors, many of them late in the game, prevented ISU from making a comeback. Junior Stephanie Alde had three kills and hit .286 in the opening game.

Illinois picked up steam in game two as Brown, Turner and sophomore Rachel Henderson got going. The Illini hit .417 in game two led by Brown's six kills and a.757 attack percentage for the game. Turner had six kills in game two and Illinois tallied four service aces, many on rockets off the tape. Illinois hit .480 in the first half of the game, storming to a commanding 15-8 advantage. The Redbirds got as close as 18-14 before an 8-4 run gave the Illini an eight-point cushion. Alde had an impressive kill off a back set from Bazzetta in that run.

The Illinois hitting was a little off the third game as the Redbirds made some adjustments defensively. The Illini hit .031 and committed four serving errors. Still Illinois used the arm of Palash to nearly pull out the game. Illinois State built a 16-10 lead, but the rebounded to tie the game at 16-16 and moved in front 24-21. Palash had three of her five game-three kills in the stretch. The seesaw battle continued with ISU regaining the advantage at 28-25, but a Brown kill off the backslide tied the score at 28-28. Kari Staehlin (14 aces) and Lindley David (11 kills) each had five kills in the game for ISU with David providing the clinching point.

Illinois rebounded to hit .351 to win the fourth game. Brown and Turner had five kills apiece, but the defense of Edinger and Beth Vrdsky (nine digs) was a key. Illinois never trailed after 14-14. Senior Meghan Macdonald brought in some fresh legs in game four and contributed three kills.

"When we needed it our passers like Beth and Ashley stepped it up," Brown said. "Ashley was huge for us tonight."

"I think it's a normal home opener," Hardin concluded. "You get to see a glimpse of what some players are capable of, like Vicki Brown, who is just a different player from a year ago. Ashley Edinger stepped up and led us with some key digs and her serving was keeping Illinois State out of synch."

Winthrop overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat UW-Milwaukee, 3-2 in the opener. The Illini meet both schools in action on Saturday.