Nov. 8, 2008

Final Stats

Minneapolis, Minn. - No. 16 Illinois and no. 17 Minnesota were like two heavyweight fighters Saturday night. The Illini and Gophers played post-season caliber volleyball as the Gophers outlasted the Illini in a five-set thriller 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10. The teams are about as even as the outcome would indicate, now deadlocked in the Big Ten for second place with identical 10-4 records. Minnesota moves to 20-6 overall while the Illini are 19-6. This was the second time this year the teams played to a fifth set.

Illinois got sensational performances from its outside hitters. Sophomore Laura DeBruler had 29 kills and 13 digs while hitting at a .288 clip. Junior Kylie McCulley had some big points as well, tying a season-high with 22 kills to go along with a career best 22 digs. McCulley gives Illinois its second 20-20 performance of the year after the Illini went five years without one.

"Minnesota is known for its defense against certain hitters," said Illinois head coach Don Hardin. "If they know a certain hitter is getting a lot of sets, Minnesota is known for its adjustments, but they couldn't do anything with Laura tonight."

The Gophers countered with Lauren Gibbemeyer, who was really potent on the backslide and finished with a team-leading 19 kills while hitting a scintillating .410.

Not much separated the two teams statistically with Minnesota hitting .282 to Illinois' .262 while holding a slight 9-6 advantage in blocks. Edinger had 20 digs backing up McCulley's 22 as Illinois edged the Gophers in digs for the match 82-81.

"Similar to our match at home it was a hard-fought match with a lot of great defense," Hardin said. "Both teams made adjustments and battled back and forth. Minnesota's serving was the difference in that fifth and deciding set."

Minnesota took an early 10-4 lead in the first. The Illini cut the gap to 10-8, but the Gophers went on an 8-4 run to take a commanding 18-12 lead. Minnesota used the arm of Gibbemeyer, who hit .400 with five kills in the first set. DeBruler countered with six kills and a .357 attack percentage, but the rest of the team hit just .160. Illinois also couldn't get the block going, as Minnesota out-blocked the Illini 2-0.

DeBruler played like an All-American in the second set, hitting .454 with six kills. She and freshman Michelle Bartsch (12 kills) had big swings in that set. The Illini hit .345 overall in that set while slowing down the Minnesota attack thanks to five team blocks. Bangert (five blocks) was in on four of those five blocks, teaming twice with Bartsch. Illinois sided out at a 72 percent rate. The Illini took their first lead of the night at 8-7 and extended that off the serve of sophomore Abby Nelson, who served three points to make it 17-12 Illinois.

McCulley was especially potent in the third set with nine kills. Gibbemeyer ran a pair of backsets that enabled Minnesota to push ahead 10-6. Again Nelson was tough on serve with a pair of service points to cut the gap to 10-9. The Illini took a 19-17 lead on a kill from DeBruler and a block by Bangert and Haen, but Minnesota responded to go back in front 21-20 before setter Rachel Hartmann put one down on two for the set winner.

Illinois showed some steady play in the fourth set as Minnesota looked to close it out. DeBruler had eight kills in that set as Illinois battled back from down 18-17. Bartsch had three straight points in a 6-1 run as Illinois went in front 23-19. McCulley and DeBruler had the final two blows as the Illini sent the match to a fifth set.

Minnesota bolted to a 3-0 lead in that fifth set and out-hit Illinois .474-.167 to out-last the Illini.

Illinois hosts no. 1 ranked Penn State, who brings an NCAA record-tying 52-match win streak to Huff Hall on Nov. 14.