Aug. 24, 2011

Complete Week 1 Match Notes

BYU/Nike Invitational

Dates: Aug. 26-27
The field: #8 Illinois, BYU, St. Mary's, UCSB
Site: Smith Fieldhouse, Elaine Michaelis Court, Provo, Utah
The Schedule: Illinois vs. BYU (6:30 pm CT Friday); St. Mary's vs. UCSB (8:30 pm Friday); BYU vs. UCSB (11 am Saturday); Illinois vs. St. Mary's (1 pm Saturday); UCSB vs. Illinois (6 pm Saturday); BYU vs. St. Mary's (8:30 pm Saturday)
TV: The Illinois-BYU match will be shown live on the BYU Network (DirecTV Channel 374, Dish Network Channel 9403, 9397) and byutv.org
Radio: All three matches will aired live on WDWS (AM 1400) and fightingillini.com with Dave Loane and Mike Koon on the call.

Illini post top 10 rankings once again: Illinois begins the season ranked No. 8 in both the AVCA Coaches poll and the Volleyball Magazine poll. This marks the third straight year and ninth time in school history that the Illini have begun the year inside the top 10. The Illini started the 2010 season tied for sixth and ended the season ninth in the AVCA poll.

Schedule loaded with ranked teams: Illinois is one of seven Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25 with four more teams receiving votes. Illinois opponents in the rankings include #1 Penn State, #5 Nebraska, #12 Minnesota, #13 Purdue, #19 Dayton, #21 Ohio State, #23 Tulsa, #T24 Michigan and #T24 Tennessee. Indiana, St. Mary's, Louisville, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern are also receiving votes. That means that of the Illini's 31 matches, 14 will be against ranked teams and another 10 against teams receiving votes.

Illinois returns two All-Americans
Illinois brings back a pair of All-Americans from the 2010 season in seniors Michelle Bartsch and Colleen Ward. The duo also earned Preseason All-Big Ten accolades.

Bartsch, who earns the honor for the third straight season, was a third team All-America choice in 2010 as well as earning first team All-Midwest Region and All-Big Ten accolades. She was MVP of the Time Warner Cable Invitational following Illinois' victory over then No. 3 Texas. Bartsch ranked seventh in kills per set (3.56) and ninth in points per set (4.11) in the Big Ten and recorded seven straight double digit kills matches to end the season.

Ward was a second team All-America selection in 2010 as well as collecting first team All-Big Ten and All-Midwest honors. She set Illinois' single-match ace record with nine aces in last year's season opener vs. BYU and was named to three all-tournament teams. In the Big Ten, she ranked third in kills (3.99 per set) and points (4.50 per set) and tallied six matches with at least 20 kills, including 27 in the NCAA second round (4th most by an Illinois player in an NCAA match).

Illinois picked second in the Big Ten
Illinois, who has placed second in the Big Ten each of the past two seasons, is picked to finish in that spot again by the conference coaches. The Illini are tied for second with Nebraska in the coaches' preseason poll which ranks the top six teams in the league.

Eight-time defending Big Ten champion Penn State is the favorite with Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State rounding out the top six in that order.

Illini boast nation's third ranked recruiting class
Illinois' 2011 four-person class is ranked No. 3 nationally by prepvolleyball.com, coming on the heels of the fifth-rated class in 2010. The members of the Class of 2007, who just completed their Illinois careers, were the sixth-best in the nation.

Illinois is ranked behind only Texas and four-time defending national champion Penn State. The Illini went 1-1 against both teams a year ago. Rounding out the top 10 are Washington, UCLA, California, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Pepperdine and USC. The Big Ten has six total teams in the top 30 - Illinois (3), Wisconsin (7), Nebraska (13), Purdue (14), Ohio State (24) and Minnesota (30).

Team loaded with Top 60 talent
The Illini have 11 players on the roster who were top 60 products in their respective classes. Liz McMahon, the No 3 player in the class is the highest ranked recruit in school history. McMahon (No. 3 in the class), Jocelynn Birks (26), Morganne Criswell (33) and Ali Stark (53) join middle blocker Anna Dorn (6), outside hitter Colleen Ward (7), outside hitter Michelle Bartsch (16), outside hitter Jazmine Orozco (33), outside hitter Jessica Jendryk (45), middle blocker Erin Johnson (57) and libero Jennifer Bonilla (60) as top 60 players.

Hambly returns to Alma Mater
Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly returns to play his Alma Mater, BYU this weekend. Hambly was a two-time All-American (third team as a junior, first team as a senior), playing for the Cougars from 1992-95. He still holds the school record for solo blocks in a game with five vs. Ball State in 1992.

Who is that at libero? Fans may recognize the face, but not the name at libero. Playing last year as Jennifer Bonilla, her birth name, the Reseda, Calif., native changed her name to Jennifer Beltran right before the season. Beltran grew up in a tough area of Los Angeles and befriended her kindergarten teacher Gustavo Beltran, who got her on the right path and into volleyball. Over time, the young then Bonilla began living with Gustavo and his wife Virna and eventually adopted them as her parents. For the complete story visit Jennifer Beltran story.

• Beltran was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team last year and set the Illinois single-season digs record with 623.

Ward, Illini ace the record book
Junior Colleen Ward had an incredible run of aces in the 2010 season opener vs. BYU, serving 11 straight points in set two, eight of those were aces. Ward added another ace for an Illinois record nine aces. The mark is also a new Huff Hall and State Farm Illini Classic mark. Ward passes Kathleen Bazzetta and Sue Nucci's Illinois mark of 8; and Illinois' Tina Rogers and Sue Webber and Penn State's Shannon Bortner's Huff mark of 7.
• Illinois had 16 aces as a team vs. BYU, a new Illini Classic and Huff Hall mark and one off the school record of 17 vs. Michigan State (on 10/22/88 and 10/16/82).
• BYU and Illinois also combined for 24 aces, a new Huff Hall record for combined aces, breaking the old mark of 22 by Illinois and Penn State on Nov. 9, 2001. Illinois vs. teams in the BYU/NIKE Invitational
• Illinois is 2-2 all-time vs. BYU. Ironically, both of those losses came in Illinois' Final Four years of 1987 and 1988. The Illini defeated BYU in Provo, 3-0 in 2002 and in four sets in Champaign last season.
• The Illini are 0-2 vs. UCSB with losses to the Gauchos in 1980 and 1999
• The Illini and St. Mary's have never met.

Stuff Huff slated for Sept. 2
Illinois hosts its annual Stuff Huff match on Friday, Sept. 2 in the first round of the State Farm Illini Classic. The Illini host No. 24 Tennessee at Huff Hall at 7 pm. The men's basketball team will be helping man the grill in the grass area south of Huff and deliver free food to the first 2,000 students. Basketball hoops will also be set up in the parking lot. Illinois has traditionally had one of its biggest crowds of the year in the event, including 3,127 vs. Illinois St. in `06.

Ward impressive in early rounds
Illinois received contributions from a number of sources in getting back to the Sweet 16. The biggest storyline, however, was the play of Colleen Ward. The junior from Naperville, Ill., had 44 kills, an average of 6.29 per set and made just six hitting errors in 103 attempts (a .369 percentage) in the two Illinois tournament victories. She also racked up 20 digs and four blocks.

Players return from injury
• Anna Dorn returns this year after missing last season with a torn ACL she suffered last September. She has all four years of eligibility remaining and will start at one of the middle positions opposite Erin Johnson.
• Freshman Jazmine Orozco, who had her best match of the year in the Sweet 16 match with 21 kills, suffered a concussion early in the spring training session and returned to full strength during the final week of preseason practice in August.

Illinois creating quite a home court advantage
• The Illini had its first sellout since 1992 when 4,141 saw Illinois top Penn State in five sets on Sept. 24, 2010. The Illini also drew 3,127 for the Northwestern match on Oct. 2, also a five-set victory. That marked the first time since 1993 the Illini have drawn more than 3,000 for match twice in the same season.
• Illinois was 14-1 at home in 2010 and 41-5 in front of the home crowd the past three years combined. Two of the losses have come to No. 1 Penn State.
• In the years the Illini have qualified for the NCAA Tournament, they have a 244-46 home record (.841).