Nov. 2, 2010

Complete Match Notes in PDF Format

Illinois faces Wisconsin, Northwestern
Illinois opened up a two-match lead for first place in the Big Ten standings after defeating both Michigan (3-2) and Michigan State (3-0) over the weekend. The Illini return to the court for a midweek match with Wisconsin at Huff Hall on Wednesday (6 pm) and at #24 vs. Northwestern (7 pm).
Media: The Wisconsin match will be shown live on the Big Ten Network with Mike Wolf and Megan Bower on the call. Both matches can be heard live on fightingillini.com and WDWS (AM-1400) with Dave Loane and Mike Trame on the call vs. Wisconsin and Dave Loane and Mike Koon on the call at Northwestern.

Illinois building home edge: Illinois is averaging 2,311 fans per match in 10 matches thus far. The Illini are on pace for their best home attendance year since averaging 2,657 in 1993 and 3,098 in 1992, both of which led the nation those years.
• Illinois has won 20 straight at home, two shy of the Huff Hall record of 22 and the sixth best active streak going nationally

Active Home Court Winning Streaks

	School	Streak	Next home match
1.	Penn State 	86 	Nov. 12
2. 	Cincinnati 	39  	---------
3. 	C. Arkansas 	26 	Nov. 4
4. 	Lipscomb 	25 	Nov. 9
5. 	Dayton 	22 	Nov. 5
6. 	Illinois 	20	Nov. 3
7. 	Tulsa 	19 	Nov. 5
8 	UNI 	18	Nov. 12
9. 	American 	17 	---------
10.	Michigan 	16 	Nov. 5

• The Illini had its first sellout since 1992 when 4,141 saw Illinois top Penn State in five sets on Sept. 24. The Illini also drew 3,127 for the Northwestern match on Oct. 2, also a five-set victory. That marked the first time since 1993 the Illini have drawn more than 3,000 for match twice in the same season.
• Illinois is 10-0 at home this year and 37-4 in front of the home crowd the past three years combined. Two of the losses have come to No. 1 Penn State.
• In the years that Illinois has qualified for the NCAA Tournament, Illinois has a 230-45 home record (.836).

Bangert earns Big Ten Defensive Honor
Illinois senior Johannah Bangert has been named the Big Ten Defensive Player of Week following her performances in helping the Illini to a pair of victories over the weekend.

The Washington, Mo., native had a season-high 10 blocks to go along with seven kills and a .429 hitting percentage as Illinois held off No. 15 Michigan in five sets in a battle for first in the Big Ten. It marks the seventh time in her career that she has had 10 blocks or more in a match. She then added six blocks vs. Michigan State

Bangert moving up Big Ten blocks lists
Johannah Bangert, who became Illinois' all-time blocks leader now is moving up a pair of Big Ten lists. With her six blocks vs. Michigan State, Bangert becomes just the 10th player in conference history with at least 600 blocks, totaling now 602.
• Bangert has 562 career block assists, just 50 shy of the Big Ten record of 612 held by Heather Dodaro of Wisconsin
• Bangert holds the conference single-season block assist record when she tallied 195 during the 2008 season. Her 168 blocks in 2009 are seventh best.

Big Ten Career Block Assists Leaders

	BA 	Name, School	Years
1. 	612 	Heather Dodaro, WIS 	1994-97
2. 	608 	Terri Zemaitis, PSU 	1994-97
3. 	606 	Lauren Cacciamani, PSU 1996-99
4. 	604	Taylor Reineke, WIS 	2004-07
5. 	581 	Christa Harmotto, PSU 	2005-08
6.	562	Johannah Bangert, ILL	2007-10
7. 	552 	Angela Morley, MSU 	1999-02
8. 	550 	Stephanie Lynch, PUR 	2005-08
9. 	536 	Erika Lange, NU 	2000-03
10. 	494 	Dana Cooke, MSU 	1993-96

Big Ten Career Total Block Leaders

	BA 	Name, School	Years
1. 	767 	Lauren Cacciamani, PSU 1996-99
2. 	736 	Terri Zemaitis, PSU 	1994-97
3. 	682 	Heather Dodaro, WIS 	1994-97
		Christa Harmotto, PSU 	2005-08
5. 	671 	Taylor Reineke, WIS 	2004-07
6. 	660 	Stephanie Lynch, PUR 	2005-08
7. 	647 	Erika Lange, NU 	2000-03
8. 	637 	Angela Morley, MSU 	1999-02
9. 	618 	Arlisa Hagan, WIS 	1989-92
10.	602	Johannah Bangert, ILL	2007-10
11. 	581 	Dana Cooke, MSU 	1993-96

Illinois reversing five-set fortunes
Illinois lost its first two five-set matches of the season, both after taking the first two sets, falling to Cincinnati and No. 7 Nebraska. Since then, the Illini have rattled off five straight victories in matches that have gone the distance, defeating No. 2 Penn State, No. 25 Northwestern, Michigan State, No. 20 Minnesota, and No. 15 Michigan.
• Of the 11 league victories, only three have come in straight sets (over Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan St.)

Wisconsin Series Notes:
Illinois owns a 40-30-1 lead in the series vs. the Badgers and has won five straight. Earlier this season, the Illini won in Madison for the third straight year. That marked the first time since 1987-89 that Illinois has won three straight at Wisconsin.
• In the match earlier this season, Laura DeBruler carried Illini offensively with 26 kills to go along with 15 digs.

Northwestern Series Notes: Illinois faces a Northwestern team that is ranked this year for the first time since 1987.
• Illinois swept the season series from the Wildcats last year for the first time since 2004. From 2005-08, the road team won every match in the series. The Illini have won 19 of the last 25 matches in Evanston and lead the overall series 46-26.
• The Illini won in five sets against Northwestern on Oct. 2 in Champaign behind 22 kills from Colleen Ward, 21 kills from Laura DeBruler and 18 kills from Michelle Bartsch. Hillary Haen had a season-best 63 assists. The teams combined for 60 hitting errors, 30 of those coming on blocks. Johannah Bangert led the way with 10 blocks.

Illinois reamins sixth in the poll
Illinois remains sixth in the latest AVCA Coaches poll behind Florida, California, Stanford, Hawaii and Nebraska. Opponents in the rankings are Nebraska (5), Texas (8) Penn St. (9), Michigan (15), Dayton (17), Minnesota (19), Cincinnati (21) and Northwestern (24).

DeBruler a finalist for Lowe's Senior CLASS
Illinois senior Laura DeBruler is one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for volleyball. The honor is given to a student-athlete who excels both on and off the court. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates that was announced in August. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to determine the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote via the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website through November 23. Fan votes will be combined with media and coaches votes to determine the winner.

Lowe's will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winner during the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in Kansas City in mid-December.

Illinois racking up Big Ten Player of the Week honors
Six different Illinois players have claimed nine different weekly Big Ten honors. • Jennifer Bonilla has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times -- on Sept. 6, Oct. 4, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25.
• Three Illinois players have been named Player of the Week -- Michelle Bartsch on Sept. 6; Colleen Ward on Sept. 27; and Laura DeBruler on Oct. 4
• Hillary Haen earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 30 while Johannah Bangert claimed the award on Nov. 1.

Illini move to second in RPI list:
Illinois continues to rank second in the latest RPI released this week. Eight Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 34. Here are the top 25 plus Big Ten.

1	Florida	20-1
2	Illinois	19-3
3	Nebraska	20-2
4	Penn St.	19-4
5	UNI	22-2
6	Stanford	18-2
7	Hawaii	21-1
8	Duke	19-4
9	Dayton	20-3
9	Southern California	19-3
11	California	20-1
12	Minnesota	17-7
13	Tennessee	19-5
14	Texas	16-5
15	LSU	21-2
16	Iowa St.	16-5
17	Purdue	15-8
18	Colorado St.	20-2
19	North Carolina	20-6
20	Northwestern	16-7
21	Cincinnati	22-4
22	Oklahoma	17-6
23	Long Beach St.	17-6
24	Wichita St.	16-5
25	Michigan	20-4
29	Ohio State	18-7
34	Indiana	17-7
47	Michigan State	11-12
52	Wisconsin	14-9
80	Iowa	6-15

Bonilla on pace to break Illinois single-season digs record
Freshman libero Jennifer Bonilla has 430 digs on the season, which already is seventh-best in a single-season in school history and she is on pace to break the single-season digs mark of 564 held by Ashley Edinger

Illinois' Single-Season Digs Leaders

	Name	Digs	Year
1.	Ashley Edinger	564	2007
2.	Ashley Edinger	562	2008
3.	Beth Vrdsky	520	2005
4.	Ashley Edinger	488	2006
5.	Tracey Marshall	465	1998
6.	Jennifer Bonilla	430	2010
7.	Erin Borske	396	1995
8.	Lauren Harks	393	2003
9.	Mary Coleman	381	1998
10.	Laura DeBruler	379	2008

Johnson returns with flair
Sophomore Erin Johnson returned to the Illinois line-up vs. Minnesota and posted five kills and seven blocks in a five-set victory. Johnson missed the previous six matches battling mononucleosis. This included the Illini's only loss in Big Ten play vs. Michigan. Johnson sat out the match vs. Iowa, but was on the ready if needed. She is now back to full strength.

Game Time Changes: The final home match of the season vs. Minnesota on Nov. 20 has been moved to 4:30 pm to accomodate live television from the Big Ten Network. The match at Penn State has moved to 5 pm central and will also be on the Big Ten Network.
• Illinois will appear on television at least three more times in 2010. The Illini will make live appearances on the BTN and Penn State (Nov. 13) and at home vs. Wisconsin (Nov. 3) and Minnesota (Nov. 20). The Nov. 19 match vs. Iowa will be live on bigtennetwork.com.