After a heartbreaking loss to No. 22 LSU in five games, the Illini volleyball team bounced back the next two games, beating Rice and Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi to finish the Mizuno Invitational II, 2-1.

The young squad made noise the first day of the tournament pushing the nationally ranked LSU team to their limit. After splitting the first four games, Illinois finally fell in the fifth game 15-11. The defense stepped up, led by libero Ashley Edinger with her career-high 32 digs. Freshman Laura DeBruler led the Illini offensively finishing with 17 kills.

Illinois rebounded for the night cap, knocking off host Rice 3-0. Kylie McCulley led the well balanced offence with 15 kills. Three other Illini finished with double digit kills. Setter Lizzie Bazzetta set-up the offense well with her 43 assists and eight digs.

The Illini wrapped up the Mizuno Invitational by defeating Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi in three straight games. Middle blockers Vicki Brown and Johannah Bangert were unstoppable with their 11 and 13 kills, each. The win moved Illinois to 4-2 on the season.