Illini heads to Vegas for tourney

By Lucas Deal

Just hours after winning its home opener against in-state rival Loyola on Wednesday, the Illinois volleyball team celebrated its first 6-0 start since 2001 with, what else, but a trip to Las Vegas.

The Illini are one of four teams competing in the UNLV Tournament, which begins this evening with the Illini matching up against No. 11 Louisville (4-0) at 5 p.m.

Illini head coach Don Hardin coached at Louisville for eight seasons before taking over at Illinois, and knows his team must come ready to play tonight to beat the Cardinals.

“I don’t have many expectations (on the match),” Hardin said. “I’m still very wide open. We don’t know a lot about them other than they are returning a lot of players.”

Entering this weekend, the Illini have won their last four matches by convincing 3-0 margins, including Wednesday’s victory over Loyola at Huff Hall.

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In 2004, Loyola ended Illinois’ five-game season-opening win streak with a 3-2 upset victory in Chicago. This year, Hardin’s team made sure not to let Loyola sneak one past them.

“I think we hit the ball pretty efficiently and didn’t make too many errors, but we could have played better,” he said.

The Illini are playing in Las Vegas for the first time since 1985, when they won all six of their matches in the same tournament. The Illini finished that season 39-3, 16-2 in the Big Ten.

But with 20 years between the trips, Hardin hopes his Illini are able to shake some of the butterflies that will come with playing in Sin City.

“None of these girls have ever been here before, so it’s not really a big thrill for us,” he said. “Basically, all we see is the back of a van, our hotel room and the gym, but we’ll still probably try to take in a comedy show or something on Saturday night.”

Immediately after the Louisville match, the Illini will have a short break before a 9 p.m. match against host UNLV (2-3).

The Illini will play their third and final game of the tourney on Saturday at 5 p.m. against Rutgers (2-4).

The Illini will be shorthanded yet again this weekend, as freshman middle blocker Rachel Henderson was recently forced to the sidelines with mononucleosis.

Hardin doesn’t expect Henderson to return for four weeks, and will start senior outside hitter Rasa Virsilaite at middle blocker until Henderson returns. Virsilaite has never played the position before.

Redshirt freshman Kayani Turner will take Virsilaite’s regular position.

“It’s a loss to not have Rachel, and while Rasa is a very good and experienced player, this is not her position,” Hardin said. “What we’re really doing is substituting Kayani for Rachel, but at different spots.”