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Post by Pasquale on Aug 28, 2014 23:28:24 GMT -5
Go Illini! Good luck this season!
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 29, 2014 5:34:43 GMT -5
TIME TO STUFF HUFF...WITH WINS!
Thu, 08/28/2014 - 9:57pm | Scott Richey CHAMPAIGN — Kevin Hambly isn’t worried about the struggles his Illinois volleyball team had during its intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday night. It was a glorified practice for the Illini.
He’d seen them play significantly better the day before. And four days before. Really, through most of the preseason.
Hear from Hambly Saturday at 8:45 a.m. on WDWS.
“We’ve had one other day like that, and it was at the end of a four-day cycle where we were kicking their butts the whole time,” Hambly said. “(The scrimmage) was the end of a five-day cycle when we were kicking their butts. We lifted that morning. We didn’t really care about the match. It was training for us.
“It wasn’t fun to watch, but I’m not worried. If we see it (today) and Saturday, then I’ll be more concerned, but I’ve seen something totally different.”
That “something totally different” is what No. 11 Illinois is planning to bring to its season opener tonight against Long Beach State in the first day of the Illini Classic. The 7 p.m. opener at Huff Hall against the 49ers will be followed by Saturday matches against Southern Illinois at 10 a.m. and No. 20 North Carolina at 7:30 p.m.
Even though Hambly has seen more good than bad from his team during the preseason, he said he was surprised by the nerves his team showed early in the intrasquad scrimmage.
“I imagine how we manage the nerves (today) will be a big deal because I can’t imagine that there are going to be less nerves when it actually matters and the crowd is going to be significant,” he said.
That expected significant crowd against Long Beach State is more than just a good turnout for the first season-opening match at home since 2010. Tonight also doubles as the “Stuff Huff” promotion.
“The atmosphere during ‘Stuff Huff’ is awesome,” sophomore outside hitter Katie Roustio said. “It really shows the other teams how great our gym can be and how much Huff is a part of how we play, and it shows other teams how much of a fan base we have.
“They definitely won’t like playing here on ‘Stuff Huff.’ It’s definitely intimidating for other teams — and it should be, because it’s pretty crazy how much of a crowd we have. But it really gets our team going.”
The chance to start the season at home could prove beneficial for the Illini. The more wins they can rack up early, the more confidence they’ll have moving on to the rest of their pre-Big Ten slate.
“I think last year we had some issues of having to try and catch up,” junior setter Alexis Viliunas said. “We’d win two, lose two. We were playing catchup. I think playing at home at the beginning will give us a better chance of being ahead and not having to play so much catchup and trying to make it into the (NCAA) tournament. Hopefully we’ll pull out a few wins this weekend and get some confidence going into other weekends we have ahead of us.”
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Post by bill on Aug 29, 2014 6:37:37 GMT -5
They will find out where they are today against an improved Long Beach State team, who beat them last year.......
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 30, 2014 4:55:32 GMT -5
Gotta love the new-look Illini. Great start to the season. Setter Viliunas was awesome as was pretty much everyone else especially Fearless Freshman libero, Brandi Donnelly.
The Beach looked athletic, and very talented as well. As an Illinois commentator was heard to report, "this Long Beach team is GOOD, and is going to have a very successful season. This win for the Illini is going to look better and better as wins pile up for The Beach".
Illinois was lucky to turn the tide late in that first set or the match may have turned out very differently.
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Post by Pasquale on Aug 30, 2014 7:56:52 GMT -5
Props to the student cheering section - I think it gets larger and louder every year.
The renovations at Huff were great to see. The new floor is nice and the ceiling fans are a particularly welcome addition.
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Post by Pasquale on Aug 30, 2014 13:08:22 GMT -5
Illinois sweeps Southern Illinois University (23, 13, and 12) and hit .404 for the match.
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 31, 2014 5:42:11 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 31, 2014 9:41:19 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 31, 2014 9:44:42 GMT -5
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Post by OptimusPrime on Aug 31, 2014 11:07:14 GMT -5
Gotta love the new-look Illini. Great start to the season. Setter Viliunas was awesome as was pretty much everyone else especially Fearless Freshman libero, Brandi Donnelly. The Beach looked athletic, and very talented as well. As an Illinois commentator was heard to report, "this Long Beach team is GOOD, and is going to have a very successful season. This win for the Illini is going to look better and better as wins pile up for The Beach". Illinois was lucky to turn the tide late in that first set or the match may have turned out very differently. Congrats to Illini for a very good win. I believe both teams will do very well this season!
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 1, 2014 4:58:36 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 2, 2014 12:31:59 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 2, 2014 13:05:53 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 2, 2014 13:12:52 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 5, 2014 4:27:04 GMT -5
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