Sept. 29, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill. - The Illinois volleyball team used a suffocating defense and unloaded an explosive offense with perfection to unravel Northwestern in a 3-0 sweep of the Wildcats tonight by game scores of 30-25, 30-25, 30-23. Freshman outside hitter Laura DeBruler had the match of her young career in the victory, knocking down 20 kills on a career-high .487 hitting and four digs to lead an Illini offense that hit an impressive .359 for the night.

"I was impressed with the play of our two freshmen Johannah and Laura against a pair of good Big Ten teams this weekend," head coach Don Hardin said. "To hit 20 kills and almost 50 percent is unbelievable for Laura. Overall, both of them showed great poise and were producing All-American numbers out there tonight."

With the win, the Illini improved to 10-4 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten action, while the Wildcats dropped to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in conference affairs.

"We also received great leadership from Lizzie tonight and over the weekend," Hardin commented about the junior setter. "A lot of that is attributed to the competition that is there for the setting position for us this year. As long as Lizzie and Hillary are battling out there for a spot, we are only going to become a better team."

For the second straight night, it was the Orange and Blue block that set the pace early as it was anchored by middle blockers senior Vicki Brown and freshman Johannah Bangert. Brown combined a solid night at the net of four blocks with nine kills, while Bangert could not have been any more effective from every facet of the game, pounding down five kills on .556 hitting and collecting four blocks of her own.

"Vicki did a great job for us tonight despite not being at her best," Hardin said about his star middle. "Vicki and Lizzie were not exactly connecting on the set and Vicki had some errors, but she did not let that effect her leadership on the court. Despite her performance, she was able to pick herself and the team up when we needed it."

In the end, the story of the night was the Illini offense that applied the pressure with every swing throughout the entire match. DeBruler's highlighting performance was coupled with a star outing from senior right side hitter, Stefanie Alde. Alde rocketed 11 kills on .400 hitting and three total blocks, while senior outside hitter Amy Palash contributed six kills and nine digs of her own.

Sophomore libero Ashley Edinger also played a role in shutting down a Northwestern offense that unraveled as the match progressed, evident as it turned to a back-up setter, outside hitter and middle blocker throughout the course of the match.

Edinger picked up a match-leading 13 digs, followed by junior setter Lizzie Bazzetta, who had 46 assists and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the year.

Illinois returns home for its next pair of Big Ten matches, taking on Indiana on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall, and finishes its home stand against Purdue on Monday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. The match is the second for the Illini on the debut network this season at Huff Hall.

MATCH RECAP
Both teams were not at their best in the early goings of game one, as they traded points at 6-6 off a pair of service errors. From there, the teams traded sideouts again until Illinois began to establish the middle off the arms of Bangert and Brown to take a late-game lead at 20-18. Making no mistake, U of I kept the pressure on as Palash delivered two crucial pressure serves to give the Orange and Blue a slim lead at 23-21. Down the stretch, it was the combination of Alde and DeBruler kills that provided Illinois its first game point at 29-25. Called upon all weekend to provide the game-changing play, Bangert found herself the provider of a game-winning block assist again, joining with Palash to seal the 30-25 game-one win.

In game two, Illinois used a suffocating defense to take a 10-7 lead and the matches' momentum. Using that advantage, Illinois used its disruptive block to untie the Northwestern offense that was begging for a spark, as the Fighting Illini extended its lead to seven, 17-10. From there, in stepped a second string for the Wildcats, as they used a fire from their bench to begin a slow comeback that cut the Illinois lead to four at 21-17. The Wildcats continued to use their spark from the bench to slim the Illinois lead that fell to one at 26-25 before the Illini responded with a late-game surge. Again sparked by the prowess of DeBruler on the outside and the tenacious play of Alde on the right side, the Illini again stared at a game point at 29-25 of kills from the two attackers. In a mirror performance of game one, Bangert stepped in again to stuff the Northwestern comeback to give Illinois the 2-0 match lead and the 30-25 game-two victory off a block assist with Alde.

Coming out of the break with a mission, the Wildcats took a 5-2 lead in a pivotal game three off shaky passing by the Illini. In a sideout contest for both teams, neither squad held a surmountable lead in the early goings, with the score at 10-9, Northwestern in front. From there, it was the DeBruler show, as she bounced three straight kills to bring Illinois back into the match at 15-all, halting a Wildcat run. However, the back-and-forth game swung NU's way again as they took an 18-16 lead off two straight kills on Illinois overpasses. Yet instinctively, it was Illinois who returned to form and ran out in front again to reach 20 first before extending their lead off a sneaky kill from Bazzetta to go up 25-22. Illinois then claimed five of the final six points down the stretch, as the three-headed monster of Alde, Bangert and DeBruler all tossed in kills to seal a 30-23 game-three win, and the 3-0 match victory.