Nov. 13, 2007

Champaign, Ill. -

Complete Match Notes in PDF Format

ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE

ILLINOIS (15-11, 7-9) at OHIO STATE (12-13, 6-10), Nov. 16, 6 pm, St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio

ILLINOIS (15-11, 7-9) at No. 1 Penn State (24-2, 16-0), nov. 17, 6 pm, Rec Hall, State College, Pa.

Radio: Illini Sports Network on fightingillini.com (Dave Loane & Kevin Martinez)

Don Hardin going for win no. 400 Illinois head coach Don Hardin needs just one more win to reach 400 for his career. He entered this season -- his 12th at Illinois -- with exactly 192 wins at both Louisville and Illinois. The win over Toledo was his 200th at Illinois and 392nd overall. His record now stands at 207-152 at Illinois and 399-228 overall.
Milestone wins 1 -- 8/29/88, Louisville 3, W. Kent. 1
100 -- 10/17/92, Louisville 3, Tulane 0
200 -- 10/12/96, Illinois 3, Indiana 1
300 -- 9/14/02, Illinois 3, UConn 0
1 at Illinois -- 9/2/96 Illinois 3, ISU 1
100 at Illinois -- 11/14/01, Illinois 3, Indiana 1
200 at Illinois -- 9/15/07, Illinois 3, Toledo 1

Road warriors: Illinois has been an anomaly with its success on the road. The Illini are 6-2 on the road in the Big Ten and 8-3 on the road overall. In two of Illinois' road losses, Illinois had two match points vs. Dayton and fell to Michigan 15-13 in the fifth game. By contrast, Illinois is 4-7 at home and 1-7 at home in the Big Ten.
• Illinois had a six-match road Big Ten snapped at Wisconsin. That was the longest streak since 1992, when the Illini went 19-1 to win the conference.
• Illinois defeated No. 11 Minnesota in Minneapolis on Oct. 13, the highest seeded road victim since 2002, when the Illini knocked off then No. 6 Minnesota.
Illinois vs. No. 1: The last time Illinois faced the No. 1 ranked team in the nation was Sept. 11, 2004, which produced one of Illinois' all-time best regular season victories. The Illini overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat No. 1 USC in five games in the championship game of the State Farm Illini Classic.
• Illinois has faced No. 1 12 times, including five times against Penn State:

Date	Opponent	Score 
10/10/1983	Hawaii	L, 0-3
12/17/1987	Hawaii	L, 1-3
(NCAA Final Four)
9/21/1990	Nebraska	L, 2-3
11/23/1990	UCLA	L, 0-3
9/3/1992	UCLA	L, 0-3
10/3/1997	at Penn State	L, 0-3
11/1/1997	Penn State	L, 1-3
9/12/1998	Penn State	L, 0-3
10/2/1998	Penn State	L, 2-3
12/10/1998	Long Beach St.	L, 0-3
(NCAA Regional Semifinal)
11/6/1999	Penn State	L, 1-3
9/11/2004	USC	W, 3-2

Where will the cutoff be?:
The question heading down the stretch in the Big Ten is how many teams will make the NCAA from the conference and what will it take to get in. Here is a breakdown of the number of teams that made the tournament from the Big Ten and the conference record of the last in since the NCAA expanded the field to 64 teams in 1998:

1998	6	9-11
1999	8	8-12
2000	6	11-9
2001	6	10-10
2002	8	10-10
2003	7	9-11
2004	7	9-11
2005	6	10-10
2006	7	8-12

So close...
Until last week, Illinois had literally been competitive against everyone. Eight of Illinois' 11 losses and five of its seven losses at home have gone to five games. The Illini took then No. 2 Penn State to five games on Oct. 19 after trailing 2-0.

Laura DeBruler leads freshmen nationally in kills per game
Laura DeBruler has moved past Florida A&M's Jovanna Blazeski into the top spot nationally among freshmen in kills per game. DeBruler is averaging 4.96 kills per game, edging Blazeski (4.85) and Texas' Juliann Faucette (4.72)

NCAA Freshman Kills leaders
(Listed by NCAA Overall Ranking)

17.	Laura DeBruler, Illinois	4.96 
23.	Jovanna Blazeski, FAMU	4.85
33.	Juliann Faucette, Texas	4.72
49.	Megan York, St. Mary's 	4.53
63.	Nataly Korobkova, KSU	4.46
74.	Sarah Reaves, Arizona St.	4.38

Illinois-Ohio State series notes
Ohio State leads the all-time series, 33-29...Three of the last five matches have been decided in five games...The Illini defeated OSU in five games in 2005 in Columbus after being down 2-0. The teams have split its meetings each year since 2003.
• Ohio State defeated Illinois in five games in Champaign on Oct. 21. The Buckeyes won the first two games, the Illini the next two before OSU prevailed 30-26, 30-24, 29-31, 22-30, 17-15. Danielle Meyer had 27 kills and hit .296 for the Buckeyes. Vicki Brown had 19 kills and hit .300 for the Illini.

Illinois-Penn State series notes
Penn State leads the all-time series, 31-8. The Illini won three out of five matches from Oct. 9, 2001-Oct. 10, 2003.

Illinois takes No. 2 Penn State to five games
After dropping the first two games to No. 2 Penn State on Oct. 19, Illinois rallied to take games three and four before the Lions won the match in five. The Illini were the Big Ten team and still the only unranked opponent to win a game from the Lions this season. Wisconsin took Penn State to five on Oct. 21.

Illinois wins longest game in school history from Wisconsin
Illinois played its longest single game in school history vs. Wisconsin on Sept. 19. The Illini had 11 game points in the opening frame before they prevailed 41-39. Illinois had leads in game two before the Badgers rebounded to take a competitive game two, 31-29. Wisconsin won the final two games handily.

Got to dig the Illini: Illinois has out-dug 21 of 26 opponents this year, many by impressive margins -- 49-27 vs. IPFW, 76-52 vs. Dayton, 54-36 vs. Marquette, 56-21 vs. Southern Illinois, 53-37 vs. Iowa and 82-65 vs. Penn State. Overall the Illini have 1,514 digs (15.61) to their opponents' 1,327 (13.68).

Edinger approaching 1,000 digs
Ashley Edinger has 989 digs for her career, approaching Illinois' top ten career list. Having played just 56 matches, Edinger will be the fastest in school history to reach that mark. Tracey Marshall is Illinois' all-time digs leader with 1,426 recorded her 1,000th career dig in her 80th match. • Edinger is on pace to break Illinois' single-season digs record. With 472 on the year, she is on pace for 590, which would break Beth Vrdsky's mark of 520 set in 2005.

Illinois single-season digs list

1.	Beth Vrdsky (2005)	520
2.	Ashley Edinger (2007)	501
3.	Ashley Edinger (2006)	488
4.	Tracey Marshall (1998)	465
5.	Erin Borske (1995)	396
7.	Lauren Harks (2003)	393
7.	Mary Coleman (1998)	391
8.	Shadia Haddad (2000)	371
9.	Shadia Haddad (2001)	368
10.	Mary Coleman (1995)	367

Illinois career digs list

1.	Tracey Marshall (1996-99)	1,496
2.	Mary Coleman (1995-98)	1,393
3.	Lauren Harks (2001-04)	1,346
4.	Beth Vrdsky (2003-06)	1,166
5.	Sandy Scholtens (1985-88)	1,133
6.	Mary Eggers (1985-88)	1,092
7.	Petra Laverman (1988-90)	1,003
8. Ashley Edinger (2006-)	989
9.	Kathleen Bazzetta (2001-04)	974
10. Shadia Haddad (1998-01)	962

Edinger posts second best digs
• Ashley Edinger's 37 digs vs. Northwestern were the second most in a match in school history, one off the record by Petra Laverman. Edinger has five of the top ten single-match digs in school history, three of which were this year.

Illinois single-match list

1.	Petra Laverman (9/30/89)	38
2.	Ashley Edinger (11/2/07)	37
3.	Beth Vrdsky (9/16/05)	36
4.	Ashley Edinger (10/21/07)	34
5.	Ashley Edinger (8/31/07)	32
	Rita Schwartz (9/5/84)	32
7.	Ashley Edinger (9/3/06)	31
	Beth Vrdsky (11/16/05)	31
9.	Ashley Edinger (9/28/88)	30
	Sandy Scholtens (9/28/88)
	

DeBruler reaches 20 kills regularly: Laura DeBruler has 14 matches with at least 20 kills this season, including seven in a row and 10 of the last 11 matches. She ranks third on Illinois' single-season list of 20-kill matches trailing only Erin Borske (19 in 1995) and Rachel VanMeter (15 in 2005). Her 14 such matches moves her into sixth on the career list. VanMeter holds the career mark with 29.
Illinois career 20-kill matches

1. 	Rachel VanMeter (`01-'05)	29
2. 	Erin Borske (`94-'95)	28
3. 	Tracey Marshall (`96-'99)	19
4.	Mary Coleman (`95-'98)	18
5.	Shadia Haddad (`98-'01)	16
6.	Laura DeBruler (2007)	14
7. 	Bridget Boyle (`86-'89)	13
	Nancy Brookhart (`86-'89)	13
9.	Betsy Spicer (`97-2000)	11
	Petra Laverman (`88-'90)	11

DeBruler atop Big Ten kills, points Laura DeBruler leads the Big Ten in kills per game in both all matches (4.96) and conference only matches (5.11). She also paces the league in points per game for all matches (5.45).
• Only three other Illini have ever led the conference in kills per game -- Lorna Henderson (1991), Erin Borske (1995) and Rachel VanMeter (2005). DeBruler would be just the fourth freshmen to ever lead the Big Ten in kills per game and the second straight. Penn State's Megan Hodge led the league at 4.83 kills per game last season.

DeBruler having one of Illinois' best kill seasons ever: Laura DeBruler has 485 kills on the season with still six matches remaining in the regular season. DeBruler is averaging 19.65 kills/match on pace for 590 for the year, which would be the third most in school history.
Illinois Single-Season Kills List

	Name	Year	Kills 
1.	Erin Borske 	1995	714
2.	Rachel VanMeter	2005	672
3.	Nancy Brookhart	1987	540
4.	Tracey Marshall	1998	536
5.	Laura DeBruler	2007	511
6.	Mary Coleman	1996	504
7.	Julie Edwards	1994	500
8.	Shadia Haddad	2000	491
9.	Rachel VanMeter	2004	483
10.	Bridget Boyle	1987	482

Comparing to a legend
Illinois head coach Don Hardin said, "The only other person to have this big of an impact as a freshman has her banner hanging in the rafters."

Hardin was comparing Laura DeBruler to Illinois great Mary Eggers, who was named the 1988 Honda Award winner as the National Player of the Year.

In her freshman campaign of 1985, Eggers had a team-leading 431 kills She did so in 42 matches for a 3.34 kills per game average

DeBruler is on pace to shatter those marks. DeBruler currently has 511 kills (an average of 4.96 kills per game), on pace for 590 by the end of the 30-match regular season.

Illinois sweeps Big Ten road trip for first time in four years:
Illinois has swept three straight Big Ten road weekends for six road victories in a row. Until then Illinois hadn't swept a Big Ten weekend in four seasons. The last time Illinois had won two road conference matches on the same weekend was Nov. 21-22, 2003 when the Illini won at Indiana (3-1) and Purdue (3-1).

Illinois continues to be competitive against ranked teams
• With the victory over No. 11 Minnesota, Illinois defeats a ranked opponent for the seventh straight year. In fact Illinois has at least one win over a ranked team every year but 2000 since 1985.
• The Illini have yet to be swept this season and have taken four ranked teams to five games before falling just short -- No. 22 LSU, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 10 Michigan and No. 2 Penn State. Illinois also lost to Dayton, a team ranked No. 17 in the latest poll, in five games.
• The Dayton match was especially close as the Illini had two match points in game four vs. the host Flyers. Dayton rebounded to take game four 31-29 and the match.

• Illinois had LSU on the ropes, before the Tigers rebounded to win in five games. In that match, the Illini bested the favored Tigers in every statistical category - attack percentage (.237-.205), kills (68-62), digs (72-65) and blocks (14-12).

Bazzetta one in a long line of Illinois alums
Lizzie Bazzetta follows sister, Kathleen, a four-year regular at defensive specialist, to Illinois. Aunts Kathleen and Eileen Gartland played volleyball for the Illini in the 1970s. Parents Bob and Mary Jean Bazzetta and several family members also attended Illinois. Each year the family has a reunion in conjunction with an Illinois volleyball match.

Bazzetta, Haen battle at setter
Freshman Hillary Haen, one of the nation's top three high school setters in 2006, enrolled at Illinois in January and practiced with the Illini last spring. Haen and incumbent Lizzie Bazzetta had a spirited battle for that position.
• During the first two weeks of the season, Illinois played a 6-2 with both setters in the rotation. Bazzetta has been used exclusively the two last weeks with the exception of game three vs. SIU when Haen had 11 assists at setter.
• Haen came into the Indiana match in reserve of Bazzetta and started vs. Purdue with Bazzetta coming in a reserve role.
• Bazzetta started vs. Minnesota and Iowa, leading the Illini to two victories.
• Haen returned with 100 assists combined in victories over Purdue and Indiana on Oct. 26-27.

Vicki Brown posts 1,000 kills
Illinois senior Vicki Brown posted her 1,000th kill in the Illinois victory over Michigan State. She now has 1,024 for her career. • Brown now is hitting .300 for her career. She would become just the 11th player in Illinois history to hit at least that for her career.