Aug. 29, 2009

Texas Tech-Illinois Finals Stats
Creighton-Illinois Final Stats

Omaha, Neb. - Junior All-American Laura DeBruler had 36 kills in two matches as 10th-ranked Illinois rolled to a pair of straight sets victories at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb. DeBruler was named the tournament MVP while junior Johannah Bangert and sophomore Michelle Bartsch were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Illinois (2-0) defeated Texas Tech 25-20, 25-15, 25-11, then downed the host Creighton Bluejays, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20. The wins marked the first in the Kevin Hambly era.

DeBruler did her most productive work in set one of the victory over Creighton with 10 kills in 21 swings as the Illini held on for a 25-22 win in that set. DeBruler had 22 kills in 47 attacks while hitting .340 vs. Creighton.

"Laura is just a special athlete," said Hambly. "It's nice to know when we are not in a good rhythm, we can go to Laura and she can make plays."

At the same time, Hambly loved the balance the Illini showed in the afternoon victory over Texas Tech. In that match DeBruler held a narrow team lead in attacks with 27 compared to Bartsch, who had 25 attacks and a team-leading 15 kills.

"Michelle was incredible this afternoon," Hambly said. "For us to really take the next step we have to that type of performance from her every night. She's young and has the capability of being very good."

Bartsch had 10 kills in the victory over Creighton and had five kills with a .400 attack percentage in set two. DeBruler followed up her first set 10 kills with six in 10 attacks in set two as Illinois hit .519 as a team.

Illinois came into the year focusing on being a strong side-out team and most of the night that was case. Illinois had an 86 percent SOP in set two vs. Texas Tech and an 85 percentage in set two vs. Creighton, both dominating sets for the Illini, while consistently siding out at better than 70 percent overall.

The Illini got some strong offensive play from their middles. Bangert hit .706 for the day with 14 kills, amassing seven kills in each match. Freshman Erin Johnson had four kills vs. Texas Tech and combined for five blocks on the day. Defensively, the Illini out-dug its opponents 78-55 paced by 26 from senior libero Ashley Edinger, but were out-blocked in both matches by a combined 12-9.

Although Illinois used primarily a seven-player rotation, the Illini got some nice play off the bench. With Illinois up 22-19 in set two vs. Creighton, sophomore Rachel Feldman came in and served the final three points, including an ace. Junior Nicole Kump converted a kill in her only attack on the quick back slide. Redshirt freshman left-hander Keelin Bourne had two kills in three attacks and Jackie Wolfe had four digs in a late-set defensive replacement playing right back.

"What I like about the second set (vs. Creighton) is that when it was tight, we could put in two freshmen and they scored six points in a row. They all made plays to make that happen."

Illinois served aggressively and had a solid service match vs. Texas Tech with eight aces, including five by DeBruler, setting a new Bluejay Invitational record. Junior Hillary Haen tallied an impressive 43 assists in each victory.

"We're happy we got wins but we've got a lot of work ahead of us to accomplish what we want at the end of the year," Hambly said. "We're going to be pretty good offensively and we have the ability to do some things defensively. We're going to be good over time, but it's going takes a little time to get in a nice rhythm."