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| Kevin Hambly will be chatting with Illini fans Thursday at noon. |
Chat with head volleyball coach Kevin Hambly Thursday at noon!
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| Moderator: Coach Hambly is here. We're ready to get started. |
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| Sarah (Champaign): Kevin,
With DeBruler out now, do you think the Illini have a chance to still finish tops in the Big Ten and possibly even in the NCAA tournament? Who will step in for DeBruler? And will she be out the entire season, or is there any chance of recovery? |
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Kevin Hambly: I believe the B10 is wide open this year. It seems like there are 5-6 teams, maybe more that have a chance to win the league this year. It also seems like there is no clear cut favorite to win the National championship either. Time will tell as we adjust to the changes in our lineup and when we get Erin Johnson back how far this group can go. But, on paper I believe we still have a chance to win the league and make a deep run into the tournament in December. |
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| Corey (Schaumburg): With Laura DeBruler out, how do you plan to replace her? Who do you see stepping up and taking her spot on the floor, not only as a player, but as a leader? |
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Kevin Hambly: When Laura was out earlier this season with mono we put Jazmine Orozco in her position and the team responded well to her and I thought Jazmine got better every week and has continued to improve. So our plan is to have her step right into the role. As far as leadership, Laura will still be a part of the program so some of the things she does off the court she will continue to do for us. On the court it will be a collective effort and some players will have to step up. Michelle Bartsch and Jennifer Bonilla have already shown a few glimpses of what kind of leaders we will need them to be. |
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| lloyd champaign: I know Laura won't be able to take a redshirt. How many matches into the season did the redshirt no longer become an option. Will the balcony in Huff on the end be available after they finish remodeling? Thanks |
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Kevin Hambly: In order to redshirt you have to play less then 30% of the matches of the season and you can't play in the second half of the season.
The balcony at Huff, unfortunately, will not be back when the renovation is done. which is extremely disappointing to me. I thought it added a special feature to Huff, I will miss it. |
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| Richard (Tuscola): What, if anything, do you think can be done to protect a player's knee's that isn't being done now? |
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Kevin Hambly: We have done and continue to do everything we can to prevent injuries. We spend a lot of time working with our players to land on both feet and have the proper technique. We spend a lot of time overcoming the natural muscular imbalances players develop from the specialization of playing just volleyball growing up. It is unfortunate that we have had three players go down in the last two years. They were all very diferent injuries. Ashley's was just a simple turn on the floor where her foot seemed to stick. Anna's was her actually just trying to stop herself from going into the net, I believe she would not have torn hers if we had some time to strength train with her. And Laura was knocked off balance by a ref stand. The only one I feel like was possibly avoidable would have been Anna's if we simply didn't play her because we didn't have her in our strength program. The others were kind of freak accidents. |
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| Bruce (Chula Vista CA): How can you assess Jennifer Bonilla's progress so far this year? |
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Kevin Hambly: I think Jen started out really well and then like a typical freshman struggled just a little, but she seems to be picking it back up and I really liked the way she practiced this week. She is getting more accustomed to our system and the Big Ten. It was what we expected from her. She will have a tremendous career here. |
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| Emily (Urbana): How many teams do you think the Big Ten will get in the NCAA Tournament this year? |
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Kevin Hambly: It is possible whoever is eligible (meaning finishes the year over .500) will get in. It is the strongest I have seen it top to bottom in my seven years here. |
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| John (Crystal Lake): When do you expect Erin Johnson back in the line-up? |
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Kevin Hambly: With Mono it is a week to week evaluation. It all depends on her energy level. |
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| Jerry (Urbana): What goals do you have as far as the Big Ten and NCAA now that Laura is out for the season? |
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Kevin Hambly: Our goals as a team have not changed with the loss of Laura. We are in the hunt to win the Big Ten and that is certainly one of our goals. |
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| Steve (St. Louis): Your comments regarding the (future) role of Jessica Jendryk --she seems to have real potential. |
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Kevin Hambly: For Jess time will tell, she has been moved to a pin position after playing middle blocker through HS. It is not an easy transition and she has done pretty well. We do have a lot of depth in her position so we will just have to see how she develops. |
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| Jay (Naperville): How is the rehab/recovery of Anna Dorn going? |
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| David (Champaign): Can you talk about what kind of girl Laura is off the court? What about the rest of the team? |
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Kevin Hambly: Laura is a great young women as all of our girls are. |
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| Walter-Mt.Olive: With parity in the Big Ten this year,how do you keep the team on a consistent high energy level??
Thank you for an exciting season with great expectations. |
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Kevin Hambly: You have no choice but to bring energy every night. We just try to take one match at a time and try to make sure we get proper rest throughout the season. |
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| David (Champaign): A lot of coaches wear polos on the sideline. Why do you still choose to wear ties? |
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Kevin Hambly: Because I'm hoping volleyball will be treated with the same respect as basketball. So I treat it with the same respect of professionalism as basketball coaches do. |
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| Jean (Chicago): I would like to purchase tickets to see the team play this Saturday against Indiana. Are they available online? |
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Kevin Hambly: You can pick up tickets at the Assembly Hall box office or at the door. |
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| BRyan (St. Loluis): Can we expect any major changes in situational offense and personnel...with the absence of Debruler, is their potential that we will see different lineups and additional personnel? How do Lurhsen and Jendryk fit into the equation now? Obviously we need Haen on the court...I am just wondering if there will be specific mathcups that a 6-2 might give us a better shot to be successful...thanks, coach. |
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Kevin Hambly: No we are not planning on major situational changes, maybe some tactical moves but not major changes. Michelle Bartsch is as effective out of the back-row as she is in the front-row, so to run a 6-2 doesn't really accomplish what you would want to offensively typically in a 6-2. |
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| Lito (Urbana): My heart goes out to Laura for this unfortunate injury. Is there a plan to do some sort of tribute to her during the home games this weekend? |
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Kevin Hambly: We will do a tribute to Laura and the other seniors on senior night. The senior class has meant a lot to our program and it would be unfair to the other seniors to single Laura out. |
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| David (Champaign): Coach, my friends and I love you and we were wondering, do you have a nickname you prefer? We keep hearing people refer to you as "K-Dog." Like it? |
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Kevin Hambly: This one made me laugh out loud when I read it. My friends call me Hambone! But if you prefer K-Dog that is fine by me. |
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| Brian (St. Louis): Kevin, I was saddened to learn about Laura. I've been following Illinois volleyball for 20 year and she is one of my all-time favorites. It's a sad way to end an illustrious career. I know her ball control will be missed. In addition, Laura was particularly effective as a backrow attacker. How advanced is Jaz's backrow attack? Is she an offensive threat from the backrow or is this an element that she's still developing? If not, what can you do to maximize your offensive options?
Thanks. Good luck this weekend. |
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Kevin Hambly: You are right about Laura - she will be missed in the back court. Jazmine is a good back-row attacker, but we will probably use a backrow sub for her more than we have in the past because we have some players that might play a little better defense. Also we will probably use Bartsch more on back-row attacks in the middle of the court. |
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| Moderator: Thanks for all of your questions. There were a few about recruiting that Coach Hambly is isn't allowed to answer per NCAA ruies. Signing Day is coming up in November and he will be able to talk about the Class of 2011 after that. See you at Huff this weekend and Go Illini! |
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