March 9, 2011
Champaign, Ill. -
One of the top professional volleyball teams in China is coming to Huff Hall in April. Tianjin, a veteran professional team, will play Illinois at 7 pm on Tuesday, April 19. Tickets for the event will be $1 with proceeds benefitting the Networkers, the booster club for Illinois volleyball. The match highlights the spring competition schedule for the Illini.
"Tianjin will be one of the best teams we've played in the spring in a long time," said Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly. "They play fast, seasoned ball and will be near the end of their competition schedule. We hope this will be one of the first steps in getting a lot of big teams to come play us in the spring."
During the spring semester, Illinois players first go through individual workouts, then more team drills. The time culminates in outside competition. For the second year in a row, Illinois begins by facing Iowa State in the Quad Cities. The Illini, who finished the 2010 season ranked ninth nationally will meet the Cyclones, who finished No. 25 in the final poll, at Bettendorf (Iowa) High School on Saturday, April 2, at 3 p.m.
"Iowa State has a history of success and the high school there is really marketing this event, so this should be a great atmosphere for a match between two top teams," Hambly said.
Illinois will play in the Three Wise Men Tournament on Saturday, April 9. The event hosted by Loyola University in Chicago has a 30-year history and features many of the top teams from the Chicago area.
Following two days of practicing and competing with Tianjin, the Illini will travel to Louisville on Saturday, April 23. The Illini will face a Cardinal team with a strong history and under the direction of former Illini assistant Anne Kordes.
Illinois loses two starters off the line-up that ended the season -- setter Hillary Haen and middle blocker Johannah Bangert. Redshirt freshman Anna Dorn is recovering from an early-season ACL tear at middle while junior lefty Annie Luhrsen takes over at the setting position.
"After all of the injuries, I think we were starting to hit our stride and get in a good groove at the end of last year," Hambly said. "It will be interesting to see Annie Luhrsen run the show. She is going to play the position differently than Hillary. We're also excited to see players like Jen Bonilla and Jazmine Orozco develop and see what a great athlete Anna Dorn is after working her way back to health. Although we have four talented freshman players coming, fans will get a feel for what we are going to look like in the fall."
