Rachel VanMeter

Height:
6-3
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Lexington, Ky.
High School:
Dorman, S.C.

AT ILLINOIS

2005
• Named First Team All-Big Ten • Set Illinois career attack record with 4,462 • Earned second Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Nov. 21 for her 65 kills and 156 attacks in victories over Purdue and Indiana. • Exploded for a career-high 39 kills at Illinois State, establishing a new Redbird Arena record. • Named Tournament MVP as she recorded 88 kills in four matches at the NIU Invitational. • Earned all-tournament honors at the UNLV Classic after totaling 69 kills in three matches. • Killed 32 balls in 68 attempts (.365) in a win against UNLV. • Recorded double-digit kills in 23 of 25 matches this season. • Had a career-high 85 total attacks in a five-game victory over Michigan State. • Recorded 28 kills in 71 attacks (.254) in a four-game loss to Minnesota. • Dug a career-high 11 balls in a five-game loss to Wisconsin. • Ranked fifth in the nation in kills per game (5.79), while leading the Big Ten. • Recorded her 1,500 career kill in a 3-2 defeat to Wisconsin. • Leads the Big Ten in kills per game • Set an Illinois record with 99 attacks to go along with 39 kills vs. Purdue on Nov. 16. 2004
• Named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten • Ranks seventh in Illinois history with 12 20+ kills matches • Exploded for a career-high .607 hitting percentage vs. Illinois State • Named the MVP of the Hurricane Frances Classic after compiling 43 kills and 4.5 blocks in the two tournament matches, and hit over .300 in both matches • Enjoyed a career performance vs. TCU, registering 28 kills • Named MVP of State Farm Illini Classic with 26 kills for the tournament • Had match-winning kill vs. USC • Earned All-Tournament honors at the University of Arkansas after totaling 44 kills in the tournament, including 25 vs. Ball State • Had 22 kills and hit .286 at No. 2 Minnesota and 19 kills while hitting .533 vs. No. 7 Ohio State • Ranked fourth in the Big Ten in kills per game (4.34).

2003:
Big hitter for the Illini and big reason of their success • Had several monster matches and was often the answer when opponents keyed on Lisa Argabright • Posted 46 kills in weekend wins over Minnesota and Iowa, including 25 kills in the five- game win over the #20 Gophers and 21 kills in the three-game sweep of Iowa • In three of Illinois biggest Big Ten victories, Van Meter had the game-winning kills -- posted a match-high 23 kills and hit .300 vs. #11 Penn State, and posted 16 kills in the win over Wisconsin along with 25 kills vs. Minnesota. • Posted double digits in kills 21 times • Ranked 16th in the Big Ten with 3.62 kills per game.

2002:
Participated in 20 matches as a true-freshman, including 18 Big Ten matches • Averaged 1.5 kills per game • Reached double figures in kills four times during conference play • Tallied a career-high 13 kills on .417 hitting with a career-high eight blocks vs. Purdue (Nov. 6) • Registered a career-high attack percentage of .467 vs. Northwestern (Nov. 16) • Ranked third on the team in blocking, averaging 0.79 blocks per game • Earned first Varsity "I" award.

High School
Named MVP of the 2001 state tournament and first-team all-tournament team at state • Led Dorman High School to back-to-back South Carolina state titles in 2000 and 2001 • Tallied a career-high 31 kills and six blocks in the 2001 state championship game • Played her freshman and sophomore years at Soddy Daisy High School in Tennessee before moving to Spartanburg, S.C. and playing her final two years at Dorman • 2001 South Carolina MVP and selected for North All-Star team • 2000 and 2001 all-region and all-state selection by CAWS • 2000 all-state selection by Varsity Online • 1999 all-district selection by Volleyball Coaches Association of Chattanooga • Member of Club South club team.

Personal
Born July 7, 1984 • Parents are Bob and Dianna VanMeter • Majoring in speech communication • Both of her parents played collegiate sports at Lambuth College, with her mother playing basketball and her father playing baseball • National Honor Society Member • Honor roll student at Soddy Daisy High School (Tennessee) in 1998 and 1999 and Dorman High School in 2000 and 2001 • Chose Illinois because of the "incredible coaches, awesome players and team unity. I felt a bond with them, I just knew in my heart that Illinois was the right place."