Sept. 3, 2008
Champaign, Ill. -
Complete Week 2 Match Notes in PDF Format 
ILLINOIS AT AT GLANCE
Illinois enters rankings
For the first time in four seasons, Illinois volleyball finds itself in the national rankings.
The Illini are ranked 19th nationally in the latest CBS Sports Network/AVCA Coaches poll after sweeping the three matches this weekend with victories over North Carolina, no. 23 New Mexico State and no. 11 Oregon. Illinois received 44 votes in the pre-season poll. This marks the first national ranking for Illinois since Nov. 8, 2004, when they were 25th.
Illinois makes the biggest jump into the national rankings. Wichita State and Michigan are also new to the poll and no. 22 and no. 25, respectively. That gives the Big Ten six ranked teams - Penn State (1), Wisconsin (10), Minnesota (12), Purdue (18), Illinois (19) and Michigan (25).
Nebraska moves up from no. 7 to no. 2 after defeating Stanford and USC. The Illini meet Stanford, which dropped only one spot to no. 3 on Saturday at the Billikin Invitational in St. Louis.
Illini comeback thwarts Ducks; Illini win State Farm Illini Classic
For the first time in Illinois history, the Illini defeated two ranked teams on the same day with victories over no. 23 New Mexico State and no. 11 Oregon in Day Two of the State Farm Illini Classic.
The victory over Oregon was especially significant. The Ducks dominated Illinois in the first two sets, winning 25-14, 15-26, Illinois rallied from way down to win the last three sets 26-24, 25-21, 15-13. The Illini were down 16-9 and 19-14 in the fourth set.
• Oregon hit .462 and .444, respectively, in the first two sets, while the Illini tallied no blocks and hit just .072 combined.
• Illinois out-blocked the Ducks 12-5.5 in the final three sets
• Illinois won its 18th Illini Classic in the 25 years of the event
DeBruler earns national, conference Player of the Week honors
Laura DeBruler was at the heart of the Illini comeback with 22 kills in the final three sets en route to a match-high 31, which also ties a career high.
The honors rolled in all week for DeBruler who not only earned her third Big Ten Player of the Week honor in her young career, but also was named AVCA and CVU.com National Player of the Week.
DeBruler becomes the first Illinois player to earn the award since Jessica Belter on Oct. 20, 2003.
DeBruler averaged 5.4 kills per set to lead Illinois to the tournament's title. The sophomore recorded a double-double in each match with 14 kills and 15 digs against the Tar Heels, 20 kills and 11 digs vs. the Aggies and 31 kills and 12 saves against the Ducks. Against Oregon, DeBruler led the Illini back from a two-set deficit, putting down 22 of her 31 kills in the final three stanzas. In set 4, she recorded nine kills, including six of the final nine Illinois points to key the rally that saw the Illini score 11 of the final 13 points in the set. On the weekend DeBruler totaled 65 kills on a .302 hitting percentage with 38 total digs (3.2 dps) and 11 total blocks (0.9 dps).
Illinois meets no. 3 Stanford Saturday in Saint Louis
The road doesn't get any easier for the Fighting Illini. On the docket this week are Saint Louis University, a team receiving votes in the AVCA poll, and no. 3 Stanford. Illinois also meets William & Mary at the Billiken Invitational hosted by Saint Louis University.
Kordes, Hardin renew friendship
Saint Louis head coach Anne Kordes is in her fifth year at the school. In her four years, she has guided the Billikens to the Atlantic 10 regular season title, the Atlantic 10 tournament championship and the first ever bid into the NCAA Tournament for the school in 2006. The school has combined for 45 wins the last two seasons, including a school record 23 in 2007.
Kordes was recruited by Illinois head coach Don Hardin both as a player at Louisville and as his top assistant at Illinois. Kordes helped recruit the nucleus of the players that led the Illini to the 2003 Sweet 16 and a runner-up finish in the Big Ten.
Opponents at a Glance
The four teams in the tournament are a combined 10-1 heading into this weekend.
• Stanford ended the 2007 regular season ranked number one and finished runner-up at the NCAA Tournament to Penn State. The Cardinal received the no. 2 ranking in the pre-season poll and last weekend lost to no. 7 Nebraska in three sets and defeated no. 3 Texas in five sets.
The Cardinal have a strong offensive attack, paced by Foluke Akinradewo, Cynthia Barboza and Alix Klineman, who have combined to win six All-America honors between them.
• Saint Louis began the season 3-0, with a pair of wins over Miami (Ohio) and another of Stephen F. Austin at a tournament in Miami.
The Billikens are the pre-season favorites in the Atlantic 10. Junior setter Whitney Roth and junior outside hitter Sammi McCloud are both pre-season first team Atlantic 10.
• William & Mary went 3-0 in winning the Tribe Invitational to start the season. Sophomore Erin Skipper was nmed MVP honors at the tournament and Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week. The Tribe defeated Maryland-Baltimore County, Eastern Michigan and Appalachian State.
Illinois and ranked teams
• Illinois has 13 matches against eight different teams that are ranked in the current CBS Network/AVCA Top 25.
• Illinois has a win over a ranked team in eight straight seasons, including 2008, and in 14 of the past 15 and 22 of their last 24 seasons.
• Illinois has two victories over top-five opponents -- no. 5 Nebraska in 1992 and no. 1 USC in 2004.
Remember When?
The date was Dec. 11, 1992. That was the last time that Illinois met Stanford in volleyball. The teams met for the second time that year and it was in the NCAA Regional Final (Elite Eight) at Huff Hall. No. 2 Stanford defeated the no. 6 Illini 17-15, 15-6, 15-17, 15-10 to earn a spot in the Final Four in a match that lasted 2 hours, 35 minutes in front of 4,316 fans at Huff Hall.
Bev Oden led Stanford with 28 kills while the Illini's Kirsten Gleis and Tina Rogers had 26 and 22, respectively.
• Illinois has never faced Saint Louis, while holding a 2-0 advantage over William & Mary.
Bangert leads block party
Last year Illinois placed 10th in the Big Ten in blocks per set. The Illini have set out to change that trend and after the first weekend, Illinois is second at 2.92 per set. Sophomore Johannah Bangert is second individually at 1.92 bps.
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 59 digs at the Illini Classic, Edinger moved past Mary Eggers and into sixth on the all-time Illinois digs list and within striking distance of the record this year. She now has 1,111.
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. Ashley Edinger 1,111
7. Mary Eggers 1,092
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 began the season with 3,206 career assists -- 824 as a freshman, 1,241 as a sophomore, and 1,141 as a junior. With 57 assists in week one, Bazzetta now needs 315 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 have begun the season using two setters, senior Lizzie Bazzetta and sophomore Hillary Haen. The assists were pretty evenly distributed in the first weekend -- Haen with 70 and Bazzetta with 57.
Welcome to the line-up
Sophomores Nicole Kump and Abby Nelson saw limited action in their first season with Illinois in 2007. The duo played prominent roles in leading the Illini to the State Farm Illini Classic title.
Nelson had eight kills and five blocks while hitting .667 in the victory over New Mexico State, all career highs. Nelson had 18 kills and 12 blocks in the first weekend.
Kump, meanwhile, is sharing time on the right side with senior Kayani Turner and freshman Michelle Bartsch. She had four kills, hit .333 in her 12 swings and contributed seven blocks in the tournament.
Turner makes miraculous comeback
Speaking of Turner, the fact that the fifith-year senior is in the line-up is a true miracle.
A knee injury kept Turner out of action during her freshman campaign, then she missed the final six matches in 2005 with a stress fracture. It was out of that injury that Turner developed a condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, which essentially sends the same pain signal through the nerves as if the fracture still existed.
The condition first surfaced during the spring of 2006, but she felt fine to start the fall season and was named MVP of two tournaments. Turner ranked 15th nationally in kills per game through Oct. 15, but the pain was too much toward the end of the year that she saw limited to no time from there on out.
During one weekend in October, it was determined that Turner would only play in one of the two matches that weekend. She had 19 kills and hit .459 in an upset of no. 16 Ohio State.
Turner missed all of the 2007 season and it appeared her career might be over. Determined not to have any regrets, Turner decided to give it one last shot and she played well Illinois' overseas trip and joins freshman Michelle Bartsch and sophomore Nicole Kump in the rotation at the right side this season.
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.
DeBruler had 20 kills vs. New Mexico State and 31 vs. Oregon to five her 17 20-kill matches for her career, fifth on the Illini's all-time list
