Aug. 28, 2010

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - Sixth-ranked Illinois (3-0) claimed its 20th State Farm Illini Classic in the tournament's 27-year history, including its fifth in a row and did so with great balance in wins over South Carolina (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) and Middle Tennessee State (23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-12) on Saturday. Setter Hillary Haen paced three Illinois players on the All-Tournament team, leading her squad to a tournament .270 attack percentage while collecting 134 aces and serving five aces.

All of Illinois' hitters took turns leading the attack, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by a humble Hean. "It was really cool," Haen said on her MVP honor. "I guess it was because we had so many good hitters that they picked the setter."

Saturday night's virtual championship match with Middle Tennessee reflected the way the Illini played in each one of its three matches, bending but eventually pulling away. Middle Tennessee was relentless in the first set, hitting .300 with a pair of service aces in taking the opening frame. From there, the Illini kicked it into gear, hitting successively better in the following sets, .240 in the second, .424 and .667 in the third.

"We want to wear teams down," said Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly. "That's what we did tonight and it was exciting to see."

Laura DeBruler led Illinois with 51 kills on the weekend, moving her into second on Illinois' all-time career kills list with 1,719, just 42 shy of the all-time Illini record. DeBruler had 19 kills vs. South Carolina and another 15 vs. MTSU earning her a spot on the all-tournament team for the fourth time, the only player in the history of the Illini Classic to ever do so.

Illinois was sent to a fourth set in two of the victories this weekend and for a while it looked as if it would happen in the other match as well. In the morning tilt with South Carolina, The Gamecocks led late, including at 23-21. DeBruler had two kills before Johannah Bangert and Michelle Bartsch ended the match with a block.

Bangert joined Haen and DeBruler on the All-Tournament and hit .750 with 10 kills in the victory over Middle Tennessee State. The middles were especially effective in the third set vs. the Blue Raiders. Bangert had four kills in five swings while sophomore Erin Johnson converted three kills in four swings. Bangert, the nation's leader in blocks the past two seasons, had a team-best 11 blocks in the tournament while hitting .531 with 20 kills.

That dominance set up the fourth set in which the outsides were unstoppable in easily taking the set and the match.

"Laura found herself against one blocker a couple of times," Hambly said. "That almost never happened last year. That's a sign of just how many weapons we have offensively."

One of those weapons, Colleen Ward, played at a high level for long stretches. Ward had 37 kills while hitting .291 in the tournament, but it was her serving that was critical. After struggling a bit offensively vs. South Carolina, freshman Jazmine Orozco got a shot to hit, but late in set three, Ward re-entered and served tough in helping get the Illini back into it. Against Middle Tennessee, Ward was unstoppable in set four with seven of her 13 kills coming in the stanza on just eight swings. Overall Ward hit .385 vs. MTSU.

Despite being tested, Illinois played 13 players on the weekend and saw several good things from its newcomers. Freshman Jennifer Bonilla joined Ward as first-year players in the starting line-up and had 38 digs for the tournament while serving two aces.

"This weekend was great for us because we saw three different styles of play," Hambly said. "Every match we got better and that gets us going in a good direction."

Illinois leaves the hallowed arena at Huff Hall the next three weeks with its next match on Friday, Sept. 3 at No. 3 Texas.