March 30, 2010
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -
Illinois volleyball has scrimmages against some of the Midwest's best non-Big Ten teams during the month of April. It starts this Saturday (April 3) with a match against No. 12 Kentucky. The contest is at 2 pm at Huff Hall and open to the public free of charge.
Kentucky qualified for its fifth straight NCAA Tournament and reached the 2009 Sweet 16 before falling to overall No. 3 seed Florida State in five sets. The Wildcats finished the season at 29-5 and return All-American outside hitter Sarah Mendoza, who led the SEC in kills.
In the coming weeks, the Illini also have dates with No. 6 Iowa State (April 10 at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa), No. 5 Nebraska (April 17 in Lincoln, Neb.) and Saint Louis (April 24 at Huff Hall).
Illinois returns five starters, including four All-Americans, from a team that went 26-6 and advanced to its second straight NCAA Sweet 16. Because the Illini have not only emerged on the national scene, but also have veteran athletes back for 2010, Illinois coach Kevin Hambly set out an ambitious schedule, not only in the fall, but during the spring as well.
"Because we have so many players returning, we wanted to try some things out against top competition to see if they are going to work," Hambly said. "It's not going to just be, `Is it going to work against Kentucky?' but over the next four weeks, `Is it going to work against all these great teams that are going to present these different challenges?'"
Illinois has been using the spring to experiment with some line-ups and strategies and Hambly says that while the Illini won't be as polished as they were in the fall because of that, there are some intriguing things for fans to watch for:
• Honorable Mention All-American Michelle Bartsch is going to be passing in most rotations. While Bartsch had been playing back row, she wasn't a primary serve receiver in 2009.
• Jackie Wolfe will step into the passing/serve receive role as well following a season in which she saw spot appearances at defensive specialist and one match where she started at setter.
• The Illini will utilize two setters this spring- sophomore Annie Luhrsen and junior Honorable Mention All-American Hillary Haen. Luhrsen transferred to Illinois this season, using 2009 as a redshirt year, after being named Big East Freshman of the Year in 2008 while playing at Connecticut. Haen, meanwhile, ranked 16th in the nation in assists last season.
• Illinois has been working on speeding up its offense and trying to be able to score points faster. That means not only setting high outside balls to First Team All-American Laura DeBruler, but also quick sets to the middle and to the right side.
"What's hard about watching spring ball is that it's not really about competition, it's about developing individually," Hambly said. "We're not going to be smooth or crisp, but that's okay because we're pushing the envelope. We have knowledgeable fans who constantly want to know what the team looks like. Our Networkers have been able learn a lot at our pre-match Chalk Talk sessions, and at the same time, our players like to play in front of our fans. This allows both to happen."
