Aug. 23, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State-Florida Match Notes in PDF Format
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Illinois State's volleyball team will officially kick off the 2007 campaign Friday when it hosts the seventh-ranked Florida Gators at Redbird Arena beginning at 7 p.m. The match will be the first of three for the Redbirds in two days, as they turn around and host both Miami (Ohio) and Valparaiso in the Redbird Classic Saturday.
The match against Florida is being dubbed "Spread the Red" night. Fans are encouraged to wear their Redbird apparel in an attempt to break the all-time Redbird Arena volleyball attendance record.
The Redbirds and Gators will be meeting in a regular-season contest for the second-consecutive season. Last September, then-sixth-ranked Florida defeated ISU in a three-game decision (30-24, 30-18 and 30-20) at the Campus USA Credit Union Classic in Gainesville, Fla. Illinois State and Florida have played three times in the past six seasons.
Friday's match marks a reunited coach link between Redbird mentor Sharon Dingman and Florida head coach Mary Wise. Dingman and Wise were teammates at Purdue, and coached together at Kentucky as assistants beginning in 1988. They helped the Wildcats to the SEC title in 1988 and NCAA regional finals berths in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Over the past 16 seasons, the two have remained close friends. In the three all-time meetings between the two coaches (twice in the SEC when Dingman coached Auburn, and Wise was at Florida, and once last season), Wise owns a 3-0 head-to-head advantage.
"I have more respect for Mary (Wise) than any other coach in the country," said Dingman. "Her work ethic and ability to relate to student-athletes both on and off the court is something I really admire. The run she has had at Florida is nothing short of incredible. The fact that they have won 16 conference championships in a row says it all. Her teams mirror the way she was as a player; they are fierce competitors, and are winners. That was exactly the way Mary played.
"We are looking forward to the opportunity to fill our arena, and open our season against such a great volleyball team. It starts what will be a great weekend of volleyball at Redbird (Arena)."
Miami (Ohio) and Illinois State will kick off Saturday's Redbird Classic festivities at noon. The RedHawks, a member of the Mid-American Conference East Division, return 10 letterwinners from a team that went 13-19 (9-7 MAC) last season. The RedHawks and Valparaiso will play the first match of the Redbird Classic Friday beginning at 4:30 p.m.
ISU will wrap up the classic by taking on Valparaiso at 7 p.m. Saturday. Last season, the `Birds recorded a five-game (26-30, 33-31, 17-30, 30-26, 15-11), come-from-behind win over the Crusaders at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Ind. The Crusaders went 23-12 last season, and finished second in the former Mid-Continent Conference. Valparaiso, which returns four starters from the 2006 squad, enters its first year as a member of the Horizon League this season.
There is also a renewed coaching link between Dingman; Wise and Valparaiso head coach Carin Avery. When Avery was a freshman at Kentucky, Dingman and Wise were Wildcat assistants.
"It certainly doesn't get any easier for us on Saturday," said Dingman. "Miami returns nearly its entire team, and is primed to have a great year in the MAC, and Valparaiso is an incredibly talented volleyball team, as we found out last season. It's always neat to coach against Carin (Avery), because her teams are a complete image of the way she played, much like Mary's (Wise) teams are. You have to battle for every point against Valpo, and they make you play a lot of volleyball.
Redbird Classic all-session tickets, which also include admission into the Florida match, are available by calling (309) 438-8000 or visiting GoRedbirds.com.
