Laura Doornbos collected a career-high 27 kills for Illinois State, but Illinois made big plays down the stretch in games two and three to win the season-opening volleyball match between the intrastate rivals 29-31, 30-27, 31-29, 30-24 in the first round of the 2003 Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena.
We had a lot of chances that we squandered, ISU head coach Sharon Dingman said. We thought we could beat Illinois. We played like that at times, but at other times we didnt execute. Im thrilled with Lauras (Doornbos) performance, weve seen that in practice from her. It just came down to critical execution down the stretch.
In the first match of the night, No. 8 Nebraska lost an eight-point lead in game one, but bounced back to take Clemson in straight sets 32-30, 30-10, 30-17. Jennifer Saleamua led the Huskers with 10 kills and 3 blocks. Lori Ashton had 8 kills to lead the Tigers.
Doornbos got help from Emily Kabbes with 12 kills and Staci Boyce with 10 kills, but Illinois had the balance with Melissa Vandreys 19 kills leading five hitters in double figures. Illinois out-hit the Birds .338 to .211 for the match. Doornbos, in her first college game as a left-side hitter, fell just two kills short of the Redbird Arena record for kills in a match.
Before a crowd of 2,688, Illinois State rode 6-of-8 early hitting to a 9-3 lead in game one. Illinois rolled back within 22-21 when Laura Doornbos went to work, scoring six of the next seven ISU points on kills. The Illini trailed 29-25 and scored four in a row before a Kelly Rikli tip and a Staci Boyce kill down the line gave the game to ISU.
Game two featured 15 ties in the first 27 points. Neither team led by more than four points and it all came down to a 27-27 tie broken by kills by Lisa Argabright and Melissa Vandrey and a block by the pair for game point in a 30-27 Illini win.
I like the way their confidence built as the match progressed, Illinois head coach Don Hardin said. In a very tough environment this group did not fold. Theres things we need to iron out, but I really love the attitiude of this team.
The third game featured 20 ties, as the Illini and Redbirds battled to 29-29 before the Illini went ahead 30-29 on a Melissa Vandrey tip to the middle and a slam off the block finished the game. Illinois sprinted to a 13-5 lead in game four and never looked back, hitting .438 in that game.
We are really trying to work on playing consistant, ISUs Kelly Rikli said. Our lack of blocking gave them momentum.
