Nov. 18, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -
Complete Match Notes in PDF Format 
Illinois concludes home season vs. Iowa and Wisconsin
The Illini conclude their regular season home schedule this weekend with matches vs. Iowa (Friday) and Wisconsin (Saturday) Illinois will be looking to sweep both schools in the season series.
Radio: Both matches will air live on fightingillini.com with Dave Loane (play-by-play) and Mike Trame (analyst) on the call. WDWS (AM-1400) will carry Friday's match live and Saturday's match tape delayed after men's basketball.
Illinois remains No. 5 in the nation
• Illinois remains No. 5 in the latest AVCA Coaches poll. This is the highest Illinois ranking since Sept. 29, 1992, when the Illini were also at No. 5.
• Illinois is one of four Big Ten teams ranked -- Penn State is No. 1, Minnesota is No. 12 and Michigan is No. 14. Two other opponents -- Florida State and Saint Louis are 15th and 20th, respectively.
Looking ahead to Tournament Time
• Illinois has submitted a bid to host the NCAA First and Second Round. The dates for the tournament would be Thursday and Friday, Dec. 3-4. The Illini have hosted NCAA matches during 11 seasons, including last year. They will be looking for their 12th Sweet 16 appearance.
• Illinois will find out if it will host on Sunday, Nov. 29. The parings show will be at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN News.
• The Regional hosts are predetermined and will be held on Dec. 11-12. The sites are Gainesville, Fla., Minneapolis, Minn., Omaha, Neb., and Stanford, Calif. The Final Four is Dec. 17 & 19 in Tampa, Fla.
• Last year Illinois finished the season in third in the Big Ten with a 24-7 overall record and received a No. 9 national seed. This year is Illinois No. 4 in the RPI, No. 5 in the national rankings and second in the Big Ten with a 21-4 overall mark.
More on the Iowa match
• Iowa has made significant improvement under second-year coach Sharon Dingman. In the seven years prior to Dingman's arrival, the Hawkeyes had a combined 66-151 overall mark, including a 15-125 record in the Big Ten. Under Dingman, Iowa has won 10 Big Ten matches and 26 matches overall.
• Although the Hawkeyes are in a three-way tie for the bottom spot in the league, they have four wins this year. Since the conference adopted double round robin play in 1985, this is just the fourth year that every Big Ten team won at least four matches in conference play.
• Iowa swept Wisconsin and took a set from No. 1 Penn State in State College.
• With a three-set win at Iowa earlier this year, Illinois now has won eight straight vs. the Hawkeyes. The last loss to the Hawkeyes came on Oct. 14, 2005 in Champaign.
• Illinois leads the all-time series, 50-13.
More on the Wisconsin match
• Earlier this year, Illinois won at Wisconsin, marking the first time the Illini had won in Madison in back-to-back seasons since 1992 & 1993.
• Johannah Bangert had a big match vs. the Badgers with 14 blocks, one off the school record, including a school-record tying 13 block assists. The junior also hit .455 with seven kills.
• In that match, Wisconsin overcame a 19-13 first-set deficit to win set one. Illinois out-blocked the Badgers, 19-5.
• The Badgers' six conference wins this season included a sweep of Michigan.
Illini honor seniors
On Saturday after the match, Illinois will honor its two seniors in outside hitter Kylie McCulley and libero Ashley Edinger
• Ashley Edinger ends her career with 1,921 digs. That mark is nearly 500 more than any player in Illinois history and ranks ninth on the all-time Big Ten list. She earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors five times in her career, including on Oct. 19 of this year after wins over Northwestern and Minnesota. Ashley was named to four all-tournament honors in her career and ranked third in the Big Ten in digs in 2007. She holds three of the top four single-season and six of the top 10 single-match digs marks in school history. Majoring in molecular & cellular biology, she is the daughter of Holt and Julie Edinger.
• Kylie McCulley has been a major force in the Illini attack since her first start as a freshman. That day she hit .265 with 19 kills vs. No. 2 Penn State. Nicknamed "Skylie" for her jumping ability, McCulley has nearly 1,000 kills and 650 digs for her career. McCulley was named to the All-Tournament Team at this year's State Farm Illini Classic for the second straight year after posting a pair of double-doubles. Kylie is the latest member of the Illini 20-20 club after tallying 22 kills and 22 digs vs. Minnesota last season. Majoring in elementary education, McCulley is the daughter of Michael and the late Becky McCulley.
