Sept. 22, 2006

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois had leads in all three games, but 14th-ranked Wisconsin battled back in each to post a 30-26, 30-26, 30-25 victory in the Big Ten opener at Huff Hall Friday night. Kayani Turner had 15 kills for Illinois, but the Illini hit just .168 as a team.

"Tonight was a matter of doubting ourselves at key points," said Illinois head coach Don Hardin. "We need to find someone who is ready to step it up emotionally and mentally at those key points."

Illinois (9-2, 0-1) jumped to a 10-5 lead in the first game behind a pair of kills from junior Amy Palash. After a Badger timeout, however, Wisconsin responded to tie the score at 15 and take control with a 24-20 advantage.

In game two, Illinois used the big swings of Stephanie Alde and Kayani Turner to push in front 15-11. Middle blocker Vicki Brown had seven kills and a .750 hitting percentage at the time. Brown, one of the nation's leaders in attack percentage, managed just two more kills the rest of the way to finish in single digits in kills for the first time this season.

"When we passed well, we kept them off balance," Hardin said. "But we didn't pass well enough as a whole to allow us to get the ball to Vicki more often."

A pair of service aces from Stephanie Obermeier gave Illinois a seemingly commanding 16-11 advantage in the second game. Back-to-back kills from Brittany Dolgner (11 kills) and an Illini hitting error brought Wisconsin back to 18-18, however. The teams traded side outs for the most part until at 26-25 Wisconsin before the Badgers scored four of the final five points to take the game.

Game three was tight throughout, but again Illinois seemed primed to win the game, taking a 23-21 advantage. But Wisconsin outscored the Illini 9-2 the rest of the game to close out the match in three games.

The Badgers, one of the top blocking teams in the conference, had 12 for the night, paced by one solo and eight block assists from Taylor Reineke. At times, the Illinois block was potent as well as the Illini totaled eight. Meghan Macdonald had one solo block and four block assists.

Lizzie Bazzetta had 39 assists, while Ashley Edinger led the team with 12 digs.

Illinois hosts Minnesota, a winner at Northwestern in five games tonight, on Saturday at Huff Hall.