2011 VB Week 12 Notes

Illinois hosts two ranked teams at Huff

Illinois hosts No. 9 Penn State and No. 22 Ohio State this weekend at Huff Hall. The Illini enter the week in a three-way tie for second in the Big Ten with both Purdue and Penn State at 11-3. The Illini are 22-3 overall. Both teams are trailing first-place Nebraska, who is 13-1 in the league.

Note Different Game Time: Friday night's match with Penn State starts at 6 pm, one hour earlier than normal to accomodate fans who want to also attend the season opening men's basketball game vs. Loyola, which is at 8 pm at Assembly Hall.

Ticket update: Reserved tickets are sold out for both the Ohio State and Penn State matches. General admission seats are available for both nights or fans can use their Go Illini Card or Student ID for entry. There is just a limited number of general admission tickets left for the Penn State match.

Video: Both matches will be streamed live on fightingillini.com via the all-access platform.

Audio: Both matches also will be carried live on WDWS (AM-1400) with Dave Loane and Mike Trame on the call. The audio stream can be found at fightingillini.com by clicking on the match on the volleyball schedule page.

Illinois-Penn State notes

• The five-set comeback win by Illinois over Penn State at Rec Hall in State College ended PSU's 68-match Big Ten home winning streak. The Illini also won in Happy Valley for the second time in 22 tries with the only other road victory coming in 1995. The match took 2:57 to complete.
• Anna Dorn tied an Illinois block assist record with 13 in the match, including four blocks in both the fourth and fifth set. Penn State sophomore Colleen Ward paced the Illini with 15 kills in 68 swings.
• Illinois has never swept Penn State in a season.
• Penn State has won the last four national titles and last eight Big Ten championships.
• The Illini are 8-35 overall against the Nittany Lions, which included a five-set victory last year at Huff Hall.
• That victory ended Penn State's record 65-match Big Ten winning streak. Earlier that year, the Lions saw their NCAA record 102-match overall win streak halted by Stanford.

Illinois-Ohio State Notes

• Illinois has a 33-36 overall record against Ohio State and has won seven straight against the Buckeyes.
• Illinois defeated Ohio State in straight sets in Columbus earlier this year thanks to a hot offensive night. The Illini were especially potent in the second set, hitting .633 with a whopping 19 kills.

Beltran approaches 1,000 digs

Jennifer Beltran is on pace to surpass the 1,000 digs mark for her career. She set the single-season record with 623 last year and now has 993 for her career.
• The 35 digs by Beltran at Purdue ranks as the most by a Big Ten player in a single match this season and tied the fourth-most digs by an Illinois player in school history. The feat came in only four sets, making it the most in program history by an Illini in a four-set match.

Illinois continues to lead the RPI

Illinois continues as the top team in the RPI, the computer ratings index. It is the rating the helps determine seeding for the NCAA Tournament. Here are the top 10 plus Illinois opponents:

	Team	Record
1.	Illinois	22-3
2.	Nebraska	20-2
3.	Iowa State	19-4
4.	Texas	16-4
5.	Northern Iowa	25-1
6.	Purdue	22-3
7.	UCLA	22-3
8.	Hawaii	24-1
9.	Minnesota	14-9
10.	Florida State	21-4
14.	Tennessee	22-3
15.	Penn State	18-6
18.	Cincinnati	20-8
21.	Michigan	17-9
27.	Tulsa	23-5
35.	Michigan State	18-8
36.	Dayton	20-6
37.	Louisville	19-7
41.	Ohio State	17-10
47.	BYU	20-7
49.	Middle Tennessee	18-9
51.	Wisconsin	14-12
54.	Houston	17-8
58.	UC-Santa Barbara	14-11
61.	St. Mary's	13-12
82.	Northwestern	14-11
102.	Cal Poly	10-15
127.	Iowa	11-16
140.	Indiana	8-18

Illini drop to No. 7 in the polls

Illinois is No. 7 in the AVCA Coaches polls this week. The Illini have spent the entire season inside the top eight, including four weeks at No. 1 -- Sept. 26- Oct. 17.
• The Big Ten continues to have seven teams inside the top 25, including four of the top 10 -- No. 2 Nebraska, No. 7 Illinois, No. 9 Penn State, No. 10 Purdue, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 22 Ohio State and No. 24 Michigan. Non-conference foe Tennessee is No. 15 with Michigan State, Dayton, Tulsa and Cincinnati each receiving votes.
• UCLA remained at No. 1 for the second week in a row, as they became the fifth different team to sit atop the poll this season a week ago. Penn State, California, Illinois and Nebraska have all been at the top spot. The Illini's four-week reign atop the poll has been the longest.

Ward, Bartsch post 20-20 matches

Colleen Ward had 20 kills and 20 digs while hitting .283 in just three sets as Illinois defeated Northwestern on Oct. 19. That performance comes after amassing 22 kills while hitting .538 in a five-set victory over Michigan State.
• The fact that it came in a three-set match made that all the more impressive. That has only happened three other times -- by Erin Borske (20 kills, 23 digs) vs. Minnesota on 10/21/95), Tracey Marshall (29 kills, 21 digs) vs. Louisville (9/13/96) and Tina Rogers (32 kills, 22 digs) vs. Southwest Missouri State on 12/1/93.
• That marked the third 20-20 performance by an Illinois player in a match. Michelle Bartsch had a pair of such matches in back-to-back days at the State Farm Illini Classic.
• Bartsch had 21 kills and 23 digs vs. Tennessee and 24 kills and 20 digs vs. No. 21 Dayton. Prior to that there were only two 20-20 matches by an Illini in past nine years, both coming in 2008 (Laura DeBruler and Kylie McCulley).
• Bartsch is just the sixth Illini with multiple 20-20 matches, joining Erin Borske (four times), Mary Coleman (six), Petra Laverman (four), Tracey Marshall (six) and Kelly Scherr (two). Two others did so back-to-back nights (Laverman and Coleman).

Illinois against top-10 teams

For the third-straight season, the Illini have defeated two top-10 opponents on the schedule. Illinois has six wins over top-10 teams in the last three years -- #6 Michigan and #6 Minnesota in 2009, #2 Texas and #2 Penn State in 2010 and #9 Minnesota and #8 Penn State this year. That equals the combined total of top-10 wins from the previous 16 seasons, as Illinois had six top-10 wins from 1993-2008. The Illini will have a chance for their third top-10 win this year on Friday night against No. 9 Penn State.

Best starts in school history

Illinois is 22-3 on the season, tied for its third-best start in school history through 25 matches:

1985 -- 25-0
1986 -- 23-2
2011 -- 22-3
1987 -- 22-3
1988 -- 22-3
1992 -- 22-3
2009 -- 21-4
2010 -- 21-4
1989 -- 21-4
2003 -- 20-5

Ranked foes all over the schedule

Illinois is 6-3 against ranked opponents so far this year. With seven Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25, the Illini are in the middle of a 10-week conference schedule in which the Illini will play at least one team currently ranked for nine straight weeks.

Winning five-set matches

Illinois is 6-0 in five-set matches this season. In the first two contests that went the distance, the Illini won after dropping the first two sets, defeating Dayton to win the State Farm Illini Classic and bettering Tulsa to take the Middle Tennessee Invitational. A week later, the Illini out-lasted Louisville, another team receiving votes in the poll, in five sets. Illinois also owns two five-set wins on the road during Big Ten play with victories over Minnesota and Penn State after losing the first set. Illinois took the first two sets from Michigan State, only to have battle to a fifth set to defeat the Spartans.
• Last year Illinois played nine matches that went the distance, posting a 5-4 mark in those matches, winning five straight at one point.

Illini in the NCAA Rankings

• Illinois moved from 69th on Sept. 11 to 46th on Oct. 2 to 20th in the nation in blocks on Oct. 16. Currently the Illini are 26th in blocks at 2.65 per set. The Illini are also 44th in hitting percentage (.245).
• Annie Luhrsen ranks 37th nationally in assists (10.97 per set) while Anna Dorn is 28th in blocks (1.31)
• Dorn is second in the nation in blocks among freshmen behind only Katie Dutchman of Northwestern (1.45 per set).

Bartsch moving up career charts

Michelle Bartsch is eighth on Illinois' all-time kills list with 1,462. Bartsch is also fourth in career attack attempts with 4,241.

Illinois career kills list

1.	1,833	Laura DeBruler	2007-10
2.	1,761	Mary Eggers	1985-88
3.	1,707	Mary Coleman	1995-98
4.	1,678	Rachel VanMeter	2002-05
5.	1,669	Nancy Brookhart	1986-89
6.	1,657	Tracey Marshall	1996-99
7.	1,484	Bridget Boyle	1986-89
8.	1,462	Michelle Bartsch	2008-11
9.	1,245	Betsy Spicer	1997-00
10.	1,228	Shadia Haddad	1998-01

Illinois career attack attempts list

1.	4,806	Laura DeBruler	2007-10
2.	4,511	Rachel VanMeter	2002-05
3.	4,374	Mary Coleman	1995-98
4.	4,241	Michelle Bartsch	2008-11
5.	4,208	Tracey Marshall	1996-99
6.	3,480	Bridget Boyle	1986-89
7.	3,417	Mary Eggers	1985-88
8.	3,329	Nancy Brookhart	1986-89
9.	3,297	Shadia Haddad	1998-01
10.	3,055	Kylie McCulley	2006-09

Ticket and Parking Info

• Reserved and general admission tickets can be purchased in advance at the Athletic Ticket Office on the west side of the Assembly Hall or by calling 866-Illini-1 (to pick up your tickets at will call). Ticket prices are $7 for reserved, $5 for faculty/staff reserved, $4 for student/youth reserved, $5 for general admission, $4 for faculty/staff general admission and $2 for youth general admission while University of Illinois students are free at the door with a student ID. If general admission tickets remain, they can be purchased at the door.
• The DIA will retain a certain number of tickets for use by Go Illini card patrons and U of I students based on averages for each category from prior 2011 home matches.
• Free parking is available after 5 p.m. at Lot E12 (east of Huff Hall), at the grass lot south of Huff Hall or at the Law Lot (corner of Fourth and Pennsylvania).

Illini creating quite a home court edge

• The Illini rank ninth in the nation in home attendance at 2,464, despite having two conflicts with Illinois football. The Illini had their second biggest crowd in Huff History with 4,261 vs. Purdue on Oct. 1, a night after drawing 3,108 vs. Indiana.
• A crowd of 4,021 saw Illinois defeat Michigan State. That marked the first time since 1992 that the Illini have had two crowds of 4,000-plus in the same season. Capacity crowd at Huff is listed at 4,050.
• Illinois is 9-0 at home in 2011 and 50-5 in front of the home crowd the past four years Two of the losses have come to No. 1 Penn State.
• Not including 2011, in the years the Illini have qualified for the NCAA Tournament, they have a 244-46 home record (.841).

NCAA Attendance Leaders

Team	Total	Dates	Avg.
1	Hawaii	115,198	18	6,400
2	Nebraska	55,648	12	4,637
3	Minnesota	35,830	8	4,479
4	Wisconsin	36,518	10	3,652
5	Penn St.	43,677	13	3,360
6	Florida	37,451	14	2,675
7	Texas	26,651	10	2,665
8.	Wichita St.	22,928	9	2,548
9.	Illinois	27,099	11	2,464
10.	Purdue	33,577	14	2,398
11.	Stanford	28,375	12	2,365
12.	Iowa St.	20,987	8	2,332
13.	Washington	22,976	10	2,298
14.	Missouri	20,182	7	2,242
15	New Mexico	22,071	10	2,207

Illinois top all-time volleyball crowds

		Opponent	Date
1. 	7,632	Minnesota*	10/16/2009
2.	4,316	Stanford$	12/11/1992
3.	4,261	Purdue	10/1/2011
4.	4,211	Ohio State$	12/3/1992
5.	4,141	Penn State	9/24/2010
6.	4,050	Ohio State	10/18/1991
	4,050	Penn State	11/27/1992
8.	4,021	Michigan St.	10/15/2011
9.	3,513	Michigan St.	10/24/1992
10.	3,497	Penn State	10/15/1993
11.	3,419	Purdue	11/13/1992
12.	3,386	Michigan	10/23/1992
$NCAA Tourney; * At Assembly Hall

NCAA Tournament Information

• The NCAA selection show will be at 5 pm on ESPNU.
• First and second round sites will be held on campus sites on Dec. 1-4.
• NCAA Regionals will Dec. 9-10 at Gainesville, Fla., Honolulu, Hawaii, Lexington, Ky., and Minneapolis, Minn.
• The national semifinals and finals are Dec. 15 & 17 in San Antonio, Tex.
• Illinois will host an NCAA Regional in 2013 at Assembly Hall. Other 2013 Regional hosts are USC, Kentucky and Florida with the finals in Seattle
• In 2012, NCAA Regional sites will be Nebraska, Purdue, California and Texas with the finals in Louisville.
• In 2014, NCAA Regionals will be in Minnesota, Washington, Iowa State and Louisville with the finals in Oklahoma City.

Near record crowd see Illini top Boilers

A crowd of 4,261 attended the Illini's match against Purdue and an additional 500 people were turned away at the door. The mark was the second largest crowd in Huff Hall history for volleyball. The record of 4,316 was set on Dec. 11, 1992 when the Illini fell to Stanford in the NCAA Regional Final. Huff Hall has undergone some renovations and that has meant a loss in seats in the north balcony. Were it not for that, it most certainly would have been the record.
• Illinois has had five crowds of 3,000 or more during the last two years, including a sellout of 4,141 vs. Penn State on Sept. 24, 2010 and 3,108 in the Illini's win over Indiana on Sept. 30.
• The largest home volleyball crowd in school history was 7,632 when the Illini defeated Minnesota in the Assembly Hall on Oct. 16, 2009.

Statistical Trends

• Only five opponents have hit .200 or better against the Illini -- Dayton (.284), Tulsa (.320), Louisville (.200), Michigan State (.200) and Nebraska (.361).
• A total of five different players have led the Illini in blocks this season -- Erin Johnson, Anna Dorn, Michelle Bartsch, Collen Ward and Liz McMahon.
• Illinois has hit over .350 in four matches this season, with the latest coming at Ohio State, which included the Illini's best single set percentage in the second frame at .633 with 19 kills and no errors.

Mayers and Viliunas sign with Illinois

Illinois signed 6-4 middle blocker Maddie Mayers (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger H.S.) and 6-0 setter Alexis Viliunas (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township H.S.) to letters of intent. Both Viliunas and Mayers are ranked in the top 80 of the class according to prepvolleyball.com.

Viliunas is ranked 34th in prepvolleyball.com's list of Senior Aces. A four-year starter Lyons Township, she led the Lions to the 2010 IHSA Class 4A state title. This season, Viliunas had 272 kills, 37 blocks, 278 digs, 551 assists and 43 aces for a team that reached the supersectional round of the tournament. She holds the school's career assist record with over 2,100. Viliunas was named all-state special mention by the Chicago Tribune in both 2009 and 2010 and second team all-state by both the Champaign News-Gazette and the Chicago Sun-Times both years. She is a three-time Suburban Life All-Area performer, playing for coach Joann Pyritz.

Playing for 1st Alliance (coached by Sue Keck), Viliunas helped the 18U team to third place at the AAU 18 Open Nationals, winning the AAU All-America award for the division. She was named an AAU All-American in 2009 and 2010, helping the 17U team to fifth place at the USAV Nationals 17 Open Division in 2010 and third place at AAU Nationals in 2009. Viliunas was also selected to the USA Select Team. Her brother, Eddie, is a tight end on the Illinois football team.

Mayers, who is ranked 76th in prepvolleyball's list of Senior Aces, was named to first team All-Northeast Indiana the last two seasons and first team All-Summit Athletic Conference for three straight years, playing for John Minnick. The Saints won the pre-season SAC championship during her first three seasons in high school, also claiming the SAC title in 2009. During her senior season, Mayers had a .500 attack percentage with 276 kills, 87 blocks, 84 digs and 45 aces.

Dorn honored by Big Ten after tying block assist school record

Anna Dorn was named Big Ten Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week on Oct. 10, earning her first career conference honors following stellar performances at Ohio State and Penn State. The Munster, Ind., native recorded 13 block assists against PSU, matching the school record held by Kellie Hebeisen and Johannah Bangert, who did it twice. It also ranks as the most blocks by a Big Ten player in a single match this season.

Illinois single-match block assists list

1.	13	Anna Dorn	10/8/11
		Johannah Bangert	10/23/09
		Johannah Bangert	10/9/09
		Kellie Hebeisen	9/14/91
5.	12	Johannah Bangert	8/30/08
		Shelly O'Bryan	11/30/02
		Paula Prentice	10/4/96