Nov. 24, 2007

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - The Illinois senior class closed their Huff Hall careers on a solid note as Illinois defeated Iowa 30-23, 30-19, 30-23 in the regular season finale Saturday night. The victory also marked win number 400 for Illinois head coach Don Hardin.

On winning his 400th, Hardin said, "It's come long and hard this season. It's an honor to be coaching long enough to have that many wins."

Freshman Laura DeBruler had 10 kills in the first game and finished with a match-high 15. DeBruler had as good of a freshman campaign as any Illini ever, finishing the season with 577 kills, the third most in Illinois history by any player.

Illinois (16-14, 8-12 in Big Ten) got solid passing, allowing junior setter Lizzie Bazzetta (50 assists) to distribute the ball nicely. Middle blockers Vicki Brown and Johannah Bangert each had 12 kills on the day. Bangert was especially strong, hitting .688 with just one error in 16 swings.

Illinois had seven aces to Iowa's two, paced by three from freshman Lea Zarytsky. The Illini out-hit the Hawkeyes (9-22, 1-19) .310-.155 with a solid defensive effort. Sophomore Ashley Edinger had 16 kills to finish the season with an Illinois record 564 for the year, bettering the old record by 44.

Illinois got off to a hot start in game one. DeBruler hit .750 through the first half of the game and finished the game with 10 kills and a .471 attack percentage. She took 17 of Illinois' 38 swings in the game. As a team the Illini out-hit the Hawkeyes .368-.257. The Illini scored four straight points to take a 12-7 lead. DeBruler had two kills in the rally. Bazzetta also got the middles involved in the opening game, feeding freshman Johannah Bangert for four kills (.500) and Brown with three (.500).

"We passed well and played good defense and Lizzie did a nice job controlling the ball tonight," Hardin said. "We were able to get the ball to the middle and that opened up the outsides for us."

Great passes allowed Bazzetta to even further feed the middle in game two. Bangert had five kills and hit .833 in the game. The Illini used the hot serving hand of Zarytsky to take control of the match. Zarytsky served seven straight points, including a pair of aces to turn a 7-7 game into a commanding 14-7 Illinois advantage.

For the second straight night Illinois entered the third game ahead 2-0, but on this night, DeBruler and company made sure the Illini would close it out in three. The freshman served the first five points. Illinois led 14-6, and 19-9 before closing out the match when Bazzetta dumped it over one two for the final kill. In that third game, Illinois out-hit Iowa .286 to .105. Brown was especially potent in the third game with six kills in seven swings. Brown also had a team-leading five block assists.

Senior right-side hitter Stefanie Alde topped last season's kill numbers with 274 this season, including five vs. Iowa. In four collegiate seasons, the last two Illinois, senior Amy Palash tallied 984 kills.

"I was glad to see the seniors go out with a win," Hardin said. "It's been a long hard season and they could have given up, up, but they fought hard to the end. Because of that, tonight's win was satisfying."