Jan. 31, 2009
Champaign, Ill. -
Senior Lizzie Bazzetta and sophomore Abby Nelson received special awards at the annual Networker's Volleyball Awards Banquet held Saturday at the Round Barn Center.
Bazzetta earned the Jim Bayne Award for Academic Excellence and the Sandy Scholtens Award. Named after the former Illini great, the Scholtens Award honors the player that best combines effort and attitude with athletic achievement.
A three-time Academic All-American, Bazzetta was a four-year regular at setter, finishing with the fourth-most assists in school history (3,847). Bazzetta was also Illinois' representative on the Big Ten Sportsmanship team. She posted eight double-doubles on the year, including 26 assists and 11 digs vs. Minnesota and 15 assists and 16 digs in a four-set victory over Saint Louis.
Nelson earned the Jimmy and Jeane Seyler Top Gun award given to the player with the highest attack percentage. Nelson hit .295 with 199 kills on the season. She also finished third on the team with 119 blocks. Nelson hit .636 with eight kills in three-set victory over Purdue on national television. She had a big weekend against Michigan and Ohio State, hitting a combined .464 then posting a .533 clip with eight kills in the rematch with Michigan on Oct. 31. Nelson hit over .300 on 12 occasions and over .400 on 10 occasions while being a major reason why the Illini ranked 15th in the nation in blocking.
The Illinois volleyball family honored its three seniors - Bazzetta, Kayani Turner and Kristine Anderson. Turner ranked fifth in the Big Ten in kills (4.49) in all matches and eighth in the league in kills (4.82) in conference only matches while being named to the State Farm Illini Classic and Marquette Kick-Off All-Tournament teams in 2006. She has been hampered by injuries the past two seasons. Anderson started the first six matches in 2006 before suffering her first of two ACL injuries. She had a career high 18 digs vs. Penn State and notched double-digit dig marks in 10 matches.
Illinois also honored retiring head coach Don Hardin, who posted a 426-239 record overall - 192-76 at Louisville and 234-163 at Illinois. Hardin was named conference coach of the year four times -- Metro Coach of the Year in 1991, Conference USA Coach of the Year in 1995 and Big Ten Coach of the Year in both 2001 and 2003.
Illinois posted a 26-8 overall record in 2008 and placed third in the Big Ten with 15-5 conference. The Illini reached the Sweet 16 for the 17th time in school history and return seven of the eight regulars next season.
