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Illinois volleyball will host Tianjin Bridgestone, which won its eighth professional Chinese Volleyball Association (CVA) title, on Tuesday at 7 pm at Huff Hall. Tickets are $1 at the door. Illinois will wrap up its spring schedule Saturday at Louisville.
This is the first of Tianjin's American college tour. The team will also
visit Kansas State, Creighton, Nebraska, Colorado State, NORCO Club, Laguna Beach Club and UC Irvine.
Illini head coach Kevin Hambly will stop by to answer your questions in our chat room at 2:30 pm Tuesday afternoon.
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| Wally Hendricks (Naples,FL): You only play Nebraska at Nebraska next year. Last year the home team in the Big Ten won 71% of their matches. How important is this for the Big 10? |
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Kevin Hambly: This is certainly a concern amongst all the coaches. I know a lot of people are disappointed that they will not see Nebraska at Huff next year. As I am as well, it is the one and only issue I think the coaches in the Big Ten have with the schedule. Most of us were in favor of keeping the 20 match schedule feeling this was a better option then a 16-14 match schedule and conference tournament. What this creates as it does in football is an advantage in a given year to a school or schools based on their schedule but it is unavoidable and not something that I think will change for some time. My feeling is that over time it will all even out. |
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| Helen: Who has been the most improved starter from last season? I thought Erin was lightyears ahead of where she was after she came back from her sickness? Has she continued to be dominating? |
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Kevin Hambly: I believe a lot of our starters have improved from last year but I agree with you Erin may be the most improved. She is an extremely hard worker and really wants to be great. She was never the same after coming off mono and I think that we may have seen a different Erin last year if she didn't go through that. I have been excited with what I have seen out of her this Spring. |
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| Justin: Will we be seeing a pretty accurate line-up tomorrow of what we can expect for the Fall? What does hosting a team like Tianjin produce for Illini VB? |
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Kevin Hambly: Justin - I have no idea what the lineup might be for the fall. We will have a lot of talent in the gym and we will have a lot of competition for spots.
Hosting a team like Tianjin is great for our program and our players. It gives them a new cultural experience, we see a style of play we are not familiar with, we get to play a very competitive team in the spring and it gives the players a chance to play in a match at Huff in front of what we hope feels like a match in the fall. It is nothing but a win in all regards. |
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| Michael/Chicago: What is the status on the Olympic Building.....or would you like to gut HUFF; renovate the building? What is your preference? |
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Kevin Hambly: Michael - No word on the new Olympic building... personally i love playing at huff and would be in favor of a renovation there. It is hard to beat the location and proximity to the freshmen dorms. Not to mention it is a great place to play volleyball; it has so much history. |
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| John (NYC): How do you think we will fair next year compared to the past year? Do you think any freshman will start right away? With such high expectations last season, what are the expectations for this coming year? |
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Kevin Hambly: John - Expectations for this team I believe will be as high as they have been at least they are in house and I personally hope they remain high forever. As far as the freshmen, it is difficult to say whether or not any of them will play. We won't know that until we train in August. They are an extremely talented group and I am looking forward to finding out what we have. |
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| Jerry (Urbana): I'm hearing really good things about Liz McMahon. Can you comment? |
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Kevin Hambly: Liz s certainly a talented athlete and someone we are extremely excited about. As with all freshmen, she has to learn the college game. i expect her to have a great career. We will see how fast she acclimates to the college game. She certainly has the capacity to do very well next year. |
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| Jon (Bloomington): How is the team doing with transitioning from having Hillary as their setter to now having Annie? |
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Kevin Hambly: Jon - I have been very happy with the transition. Annie is a different type of setter than Hillary; she is much more aggressive and has a different approach to the position; I don't feel either style is better than the other. The team has adjusted very well to Annie and I expect her to do a great job for us. |
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| Richard (Clinton): Hi Coach! What do you think will be most challenging (and fun) about playing Vs Tianjin? Do you have some different expectations for this match when compared to others on the Spring schedule? Thanks! |
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Kevin Hambly: Richard - The biggest challenge will be that they are going to be very good... They are at the end of their season and have just won the championship so they are in post season form. We are not even trying to be in post season form. We are trying to develop individually within the confines of our system.
So the expectations will be the same for us in the spring - we will focus on us. If we are competing hard and focused on our system and skills, then it is a success. |
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| Cindy (Champaign): I was very concerned to read about Jazmine's injury. Are concussions common in collegiate volleyball? You hear about things being done in football and soccer to prevent them. Are there similar things that can be done in volleyball to prevent them? |
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Kevin Hambly: Cindy - Concussions are not super common in the sport of volleyball much more prevalent in football, soccer, hockey and rugby. So there has been no discussions on how better to avoid this. Typically concussions in our sport happen from a player rolling to play a ball and hitting their head. Jazmine's injury is pretty rare. I am extremely optimistic that she will be back in the fall and there will be no long-term effects. I agree it is scary however. |
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| Jake UIUC: Is there any possibility of hosting a team like Penn State or one of that high caliber inside Assembly Hall again? I thought that event was unique |
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Kevin Hambly: Jake - I think the possibility of playing in Assembly Hall is very good. In 2013 we are hosting NCAA Regionals so we will have to play at least one match in the venue.
The idea of doing a match in there has been thrown around. For me I m not sure it is better to be in Assembly Hall than have Huff sold out like we did against PSU last year - Huff is a tough place to play! |
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| Jen (Chicago): Have Jen Bonilla and Jazmine Orozco been playing this spring/should we expect to see them on the court tonight?
Ps. Can't wait to see the 2011 squad in the fall! |
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| T-Bone (Mahomet): Coach, I really enjoyed watching Jen Bonilla last year, outstanding performance by a freshman. To me, there's nothing that fires a crowd or a team up more than a flying dig that keeps a rally alive. What do you think? How good can she be? |
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Kevin Hambly: T-Bone - I think Jen has some physical gifts that are unique. she has a tremendous feel for the game and certainly has the ability to be a very special player. How good she becomes will completely depend on how hard she is willing to work and how dedicated she is to the sport. Her potential is on par with the best liberos I have coached. |
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| Horacio (Urbana, IL): Who is the most underrated player on the team right now? |
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| James: How are this year's freshman coming along in their first spring season? |
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Kevin Hambly: James - Our freshmen have done a great job this Spring. They have all learned a lot and have been integrated into our systems. Anna has been getting healthier and she has shown tremendous potential. Jen came in playing at a high level and has continued to improve. Courtney could prove to be a productive player for us in the future. Jazmine was going in a great direction before the injury - that was disappointing but I know she will catch up in the fall. |
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