Sept. 5, 2008

Box Score

St. Louis, Mo. - Thanks in part to a potent block, Illinois overcame a slow start in its first match in the national rankings this season, defeating the Saint Louis Billikens, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 in front of 1,016 fans at the Billiken Invitational.

"This was a pressure win for us," head coach Don Hardin said. "We were the heavily favored, higher ranked team, that's coming in here against a home team that was undefeated and receiving votes. We showed a lot of composure tonight, down a set. We stayed steady and I think the block really bothered Saint Louis."

Illinois moves to 4-0 on the season, while SLU, who received votes in this week's poll, dropped to 3-1. Awaiting Illinois on Saturday is third-ranked Stanford, a straight sets winner over William & Mary earlier in the day. The Illini meet the Cardinal at 1 p.m.then William & Mary at 5 p.m. The Illini will be looking for their third win over ranked team in two weeks, which would be the most over ranked opponents since 2003.

On Friday, Sophomore middle blocker Abby Nelson paced a 13-4 team advantage on the block with eight block assists. Nelson also hit .385 with seven kills. Senior right side hitter Kayani Turner, who teamed with Nelson on many of those blocks, finished the night with six kills and six block assists.

"Offensively Abby (Nelson) turned the game around in the getting the middle going for us," Hardin added. "In the second game she was hitting .750 and we could really go to her, causing them to strategize a little differently."

Sophomore Laura DeBruler, the National Player of the Week, epitomized the turnaround for the Illini. DeBruler had just one kill in six attacks in the first game, but tallied 13 while hitting .345 with 13 kills in the final three sets. DeBruler finished with a match-high 14 kills and a .286 attack percentage.

Illinois actually looked in control from the outset, jumping to a 14-10 lead, but the Billiken's Sammi McCloud served six straight points in a 10-2 run in the middle of 10-2 run as SLU pushed to take the first set. McClound had five of her team-high 13 kills in the opening set.

Saint Louis seemingly had the Illini on the ropes in taking a 6-2 advantage in the second set. That meant 21 of 27 points for the Billikens in the stretch. The turnaround for the Illini came off the serve of junior libero Ashley Edinger and senior setter Lizzie Bazzetta, who served three and five points, respectively, as Illinois pushed in front 12-8 and never trailed in that game.

Illinois controlled most of the final two sets, due to a strong defense, holding Saint Louis to a .000 attack percentage. The Illini finished the match with three players with at least 16 digs - Edinger (20), DeBruler (17, one off a career high) and Bazzetta (16). Haen finishd with 21 and 15 assists, respectively