Nov. 23, 2007

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - Freshman Laura DeBruler (23 kills) and junior Kylie McCulley (21 kills) each topped 20 kills and Illinois bolted to a two games to none lead against Minnesota Friday night at Huff Hall. But the Gophers block took over the last three games as Minnesota (18-11, 11-8 in Big Ten) salvaged a season split with Illinois, winning 26-30, 26-30, 30-23, 30-17, 15-12. Illinois (15-14, 7-12 in Big Ten) hosts Iowa Saturday vying for a winning season.

The match was indeed a tale of two halves. In the first two games, McCulley and DeBruler each tallied 13 kills and the Gophers hit just .216. Illinois also never trailed in those two games, jumping to a 22-16 lead in the first game and a 19-15 lead in the second game.

"Even we she came back from the injury, Kylie was probably operating at about 60 percent," said Illinois head coach Don Hardin. "Today she came out of it and was getting into some rhythm. She really impacted us tonight."

Illinois used the serving arm of freshman Lea Zarytsky to score five straight points and turn a 17-16 lead into a commanding 22-16 advantage in the opening game.

Game two was more competitive with the score tied at 19, 21, and 25 before the Illini closed it out. McCulley had three straight kills, before senior middle blocker Vicki Brown finished off the scoring with a kill at game point.

Hardin pointed to game three as the pivotal point in the match with the Illini having trouble closing out matches in five games. Game three was tight until Minnesota freshman Brook Dieter served seven straight points and the Minnesota block forced six Illinois attack errors in that stretch. Game four was all Gophers as the Illini hit just -.056. Minnesota had five team blocks in that game while hitting .248.

The post-Thanksgiving Day crowd gave Illinois a boost just before the opening of the fifth game, rising to its feet and making noises in solidarity for their Illini club. Illinois used that momentum to score three straight points to start the game, two off the Zarytsky serve. Minnesota roared back to score the next three points, however, then added four straight points in one stretch to take a 13-9 advantage.

"The only stat that weighed heavily in their favor was their block and our offense sputtering," said Hardin, on the Gophers 21-5 advantage in that category. "We got good kill numbers from both Kylie and Laura, but can't ride those two. We have a lot of young players and have shown we get anxious in the fifth game, so game three was when we needed to pull it out."

Illinois libero Ashley Edinger added to her Illinois single-season digs record with 17, bringing her 2007 total to 548. Dieter led a balanced Minnesota attack with 18 kills, while Jessy Jones tallied 10 block assists.

The Illini will honor senior Vicki Brown, Stefanie Alde and Amy Palash following Saturday's season finale match with Iowa.