Illinois opens season with State Farm Illini Classic
August 26, 2008 | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2008
Champaign, Ill. -
Complete Match Notes in PDF Format 
ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE
`Stuff Huff' returnsFor the third straight season, Illinois is promoting its season opener as `Stuff Huff' as the Illini strive to pack the historic arena on 4th & Gregory.
Two years ago, Illinois had its biggest home crowd in 13 years with an attendance of 3,129 as the Illini defeated Illinois State in the first game of the State Farm Illini Classic. The Illini drew 3,161 vs. Minnesota on Nov. 6, 1993.
• Although no records were kept, the crowd likely was the largest student crowd in the history of Huff Hall. A total of 1,682 students used their student IDs to see the Illini take on ISU.
• Bruce Weber, an avid volleyball supporter, and the men's basketball team will be serving hot dogs to the first 1,000 students in the parking lot of Huff from 5:30-6:45 pm and will address the crowd between sets two and three.
Illinois All-Time 3,000+ Home Crowds
Opponent Date 4,316 Stanford$ 12/11/1992 4,211 Ohio State# 12/3/1992 4,123 Nebraska$ 12/10/1992 4,050 Ohio State 10/18/1991 4,050 Penn State 11/27/1992 3,513 Michigan State 10/24/1992 3,497 Penn State 10/15/1993 3,419 Purdue 11/13/1992 3,386 Michigan 10/23/1992 3,269 Indiana 11/14/1992 3,172 Nebraska 9/11/1992 3,161 Minnesota 11/6/1993 3,144 Ohio State 11/28/1992 3,129 Illinois State 8/25/2006 3,086 Minnesota 10/3/1992 3,039 Wisconsin 9/21/1991 3,099 Penn State 9/23/1995 3,083 Penn State 11/6/1999 3,052 Minnesota 10/5/1996 3,011 Ohio State 10/16/1993 #NCAA First Round $NCAA Mideast Regional Final
Illini hosts State Farm Illini Classic
Illinois is hosting the 25th Annual State Farm Illini Classic this weekend
History
• Illinois has won 17 of the previous 24 Tournaments, including 10 of the 12 tournaments under Don Hardin.
• There is no doubt that the most memorable Illini Classic moment came in 2004. Top-ranked USC came into the tournament with an NCAA record 52-match winning streak, having won the previous two national titles. Illinois defeated the top-ranked Women of Troy, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to win in five games.
Ranked Teams
• Two ranked teams highlight this year's tournament as Oregon and New Mexico State are ranked 11th and 23rd, respectively, in the pre-season rankings.
Ranked teams at the Illini Classic -- 1986 -- No. 10 Illinois
1987 -- No. 3 BYU, No. 6 Illinois, No. 18 Arizona State
1988 -- No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Nebraska
1989 -- No. 5 Illinois
1990 -- No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Illinois
1991 -- No. 16 Illinois
1992 -- No. 5 Nebraska, No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 16 Colorado
1993 -- No. 19 Illinois
1994 -- No. 18 New Mexcio, No. 21 Illinois
1999 -- No. 22 Illinois
2001 -- No. 11 Florida
2004 -- No. 1 USC, No. 16 Illinois
2008 -- No. 11 Oregon, No. 23 NMSU
Schedule
Friday, 4:30 pm Oregon vs. NMSU
Friday, 7 p.m. Illinois vs. North Carolina
Saturday,10 a.m. Illinois vs. NMSU
Saturday, Noon North Carolina vs. Oregon
Saturday, 5 pm Illinois vs. Oregon
Saturday, 7 pm North Carolina vs. NMSU
Tickets:
$5 for adults, $2 for students, free for U of I students with student ID for each of three sessions. Doors open one hour prior to each session.
Illini receive votes in first poll Illinois received votes in the pre-season CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Coaches poll. The Illini earned 45 votes from the 60 member panel.
A total of seven Illinois opponents are in the Pre-season Top 25 and another three are receiving votes. Defending national champion Penn State received 59 of a possible 60 first-place votes to earn the top spot. Illinois meets the Nittany Lions on Sept. 27 in State College and hosts PSU Nov. 14 at Huff Hall. National runner-up Stanford garnered the no. 2 spot. The Illini and the Cardinal square off Sept. 6 at the Billikin Invitational in St. Louis.
Illinois opens the season Aug. 29-30 by hosting the State Farm Illini Classic. Two of the three other teams in the event are ranked - Oregon at no. 11 and New Mexico State at no. 23. Besides Penn State, three other Big Ten teams are in the top 25 - Wisconsin at no. 13, Minnesota at no. 16 and Purdue no. 25. Michigan, Michigan State and another non-conference Illinois opponent, Dayton, join the Illini in receiving votes. Illinois was picked fifth in the Big Ten by conference coaches last week.
2007 State Farm Illini Classic Recap For the second straight year, the Illinois volleyball team hoisted the State Farm Illini Classic trophy, defeating Creighton 3-1 by game scores of 30-22, 17-30, 30-25, 30-22. The Illini were led by the offensive explosiveness of the tournament's Most Valuable Player senior middle blocker Vicki Brown, who finished the afternoon with 16 kills and four blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Laura DeBruler paced all hitters with 18 kills and 10 digs to garner all-tournament honors, while junior Lizzie Bazzetta rounded out the Orange and Blue in the all-tournament spotlight, collecting 45 assists and 13 digs in her double-double performance.
2007 Results
Creighton def. Tennessee 30-25, 30-24, 30-22
Illinois def. Marquette 30-24, 30-22, 30-24
Tennessee def. Marquette 30-26, 30-25, 19-30, 30-22 (3rd place)
Illinois def. Creighton 30-22, 17-30, 30-25, 30-22 (championship match)
2007 State Farm Illini Classic All-Tournament Team
MVP - Vicki Brown - Illinois
Lizzie Bazzetta - Illinois
Laura DeBruler - Illinois
Jessica Houts - Creighton
Bianca Rivera - Creighton
Kimberly Todd - Marquette
Leah Hinkey - Tennessee
The 2008 field at a glance
• New Mexico State made its fourth NCAA appearance in the past five years and enters the season ranked no. 23 after ending last year at no. 21. The Aggies are coming off a 26-6 season and a 14-2 conference mark. They are picked second in the WAC behind no. 12 Hawaii and are led by All-American middle blocker Amber Simpson
• North Carolina brings a veteran team to the tournament after losing just one starter to graduation from a 15-16 team. They are paced by three-year starter Stephanie Hansma at setter and libero, and Brianna Eskola, who is approaching the ACC career digs record
• Oregon hails from the talent-rich Pac-10, who has six teams in the pre-season top 25. The Ducks, no. 11 in the pre-season poll, advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2007, after posting a 22-11 record. They return six starters, including AVCA Second Team All-American Gorana Maricic. Their roster includes three players from Serbia and one from Australia.
Edinger approaches career digs record
Ashley Edinger holds two of the top three digs seasons in Illinois history, incuding 564 last year. Edinger also topped 1,000 digs in just her 57th match of her career. Tracey Marshall, who is Illinois' all-time digs leader with 1,426, recorded her 1,000th career dig in her 80th match.
With 1,052 career digs, Edinger begins the year seventh on the all-time Illinois digs list and within striking distance of the record this year.
Illinois single-season digs list
1. Ashley Edinger (2007) 564 2. Beth Vrdsky (2005) 520 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 1,426 2. Mary Coleman 1,393 3. Lauren Harks 1,346 4. Beth Vrdsky 1,166 5. Sandy Scholtens 1,133 6. Mary Eggers 1,092 7. Ashley Edinger 1,052 8. Petra Laverman 1,003 9. Kathleen Bazzetta 974 10. Shadia Haddad 962
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)
Bazzetta moves up Illinois assists charts
Lizzie Bazzetta begins the season with 3,206 career assists -- 824 as a freshman, 1,241 as a sophomore, and 1,141 as a junior. She needs 372 assists to move past Betsy Eiserman for fifth on the Illini career list and could become just the fourth Illinois player to top 4,000 for her career.
Illinois begins the year using 6-2 system:
The Fighting Illini will begin the season using two setters, senior Lizzie Bazzetta and sophomore Hillary Haen. In the three-game sweep of the Alumni, Haen collected 14 assists and Bazzetta 11.
Illinois completes successful European Trip
Illinois traveled to Italy, Slovenia and Croatia during the last two weekends in May. The Illini went 9-1, including the Big Ten Conference's first victory over the Italian Junior National Team.
• The last two times Illinois has taken a foreign trip -- 1998 to Holland and 2003 to Brazil, the Illini reached the NCAA Sweet 16
• Several Illinois players collected hardware during the trip. Sophomore Laura DeBruler won Tournament MVP in Belluno, Italy, where the Illini swept Team Belluno, 25-18, 26-24, 25-16 and Team Sbico 25-23, 25-17, 12-15. Junior Ashley Edinger earned the award for Best Defensive Player of the Tournament while senior Lizzie Bazzetta was named Best Setter. Illinois won all three matches at a tournament in Rogla, Slovenia, with Johannah Bangert earning Tournament MVP.
• Illinois fared better than any Big Ten team in recent years against the Italian Junior National Team. Illinois won the first match on May 26 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 27-29, 15-12, in Ravenna, then lost a hard-fought five-gamer the next night 25-21, 12-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-10.
Bartsch starts for U.S. Junior National Team
Illinois freshman Michelle Bartsch not only made the 12-member U.S. Junior National Team this year, but started every match at middle blocker in the NORCECA Championships in Mexico, leading the United States to the gold medal. She was also named the Most Outstanding Server of the Championships.
Bartsch had nine kills, two blocks and an ace while hitting .818 in the gold medal match and was also selected as the best server for the tournament.
The native of Maryville, Ill., and graduate of Collinsville High School started at middle blocker in all six matches for the United States team. The Americans placed second to the Dominican Republic in pool A, but stormed back through medal round to win three straight and claim the gold, defeating Dominica in the final, 25-21, 25-20, 25-18.
In the gold medal match, Bartsch served six straight points in the first set, including an ace to turn a three-point deficit into a three-point advantage for the U.S. She also key two rallies with a pair of kills as the American's pulled out the game two victory.
The road to the championship match included a three-set victory over Mexico (25-18, 25-17, 25-21) and a four-set win over Cuba (23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19). Bartsch led the Americans in points against both Mexico and Cuba with 12 and 10, respectively.
DeBruler named Pre-Season All-Big Ten
Illinois sophomore outside hitter Laura DeBruler was named Pre-Season All-Big Ten by the conference coaches.
DeBruler led all freshmen in Division I in kills while ranking first in the Big Ten and 22nd overall nationally with 4.89 kills per game in 2007. The graduate of Downers Grove (Ill.) North High School had 28 kills in her Illinois debut vs. Bowling Green, the only player even to reach double figures in her first match as an Illini. DeBruler finished the season with 577 kills, the third most by any player in Illinois history. She tallied 15 matches with at least 20 kills, tied for second most in a season in school history. DeBruler ranked second on the Illinois team with 285 digs while being named to three All-Tournament teams in 2007.
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) 15 7. Bridget Boyle (`86-'89) 13 Nancy Brookhart (`86-'89) 13 9. Betsy Spicer (`97-2000) 11 Petra Laverman (`88-'90) 11
2007 NCAA Freshman Kills leaders
(Listed by NCAA Overall Ranking)
22. Laura DeBruler, Illinois 4.89 23. Jovanna Blazeski, FAMU 4.87 46. Megan York, St. Mary's 4.52 56. Juliann Faucette, Texas 4.49 63. Krista Kelley, Santa Clara 4.46
