The No. 19 Illinois volleyball squad had what might have been its toughest competition of the season last weekend. The team played in the Billiken Invitational in St. Louis, Mo., where No. 3 Stanford highlighted its tournament schedule.

The Fighting Illini began the weekend strong, defeating the host team, Saint Louis, in front of a crowd of 1,016 in the Billikens’ new Chaifetz Arena.

After dropping the first set 21-25, Illinois fought back to take the final three sets 25-20, 25-18 and 25-18.

Sophomore outside hitter and reigning National Player of the Week Laura DeBruler had only one kill in six attacks in the first set before tallying 13 kills in the final three sets. She hit .345 to finish with a match-high 14 kills.

Defensively, the Illini had a 13-4 advantage on the block, thanks in large part to sophomore middle blocker Abby Nelson, who had eight block assists to go along with seven kills.

Saint Louis may not have been a ranked opponent, but Hardin saw the match as a high-pressure situation with Saint Louis playing good volleyball in front of a large home crowd.

“Saint Louis is a really great team. And (Anne) Kordes, my former assistant coach, she has done a great job there. She’s really got them playing good volleyball and believing in themselves,” Hardin said. “So, it’s our chance to see how our younger players would respond on the road and how our team was going to be on the road and they handled the pressure really well.”

The ranked opponent came on Saturday, as Illinois faced one of the best in the nation in No. 3 Stanford.

Sophomore middle blocker Johannah Bangert hit .571 with nine kills for the Illini in her return home to Missouri. But the Fighting Illini fell to the Cardinal in three sets 25-15, 25-22, 25-22.

“One of the big things we have to take away from that is just the fact that just because they’re ranked so high, we still have to go out and play them just like any other team,” Bangert said of Stanford. “We can’t be too nervous or too anxious or too excited. We have to keep in the same level of emotions and energy as just any other team.”

Hardin agreed that his squad came out over-anxious for the match against one of the best teams in the country. The Illini were strong in both hitting and blocking, but “were just overly energetic” in their other skills.

“Once we got into the match, we started playing with them and the games were closer,” Hardin added.

But Illinois was still able to end the weekend on a positive note, defeating William & Mary in straight sets 25-23, 25-20 and 25-13 to improve their record to 5-1 on the season.

Leading the way for the Orange and Blue was junior outside hitter Kylie McCulley, who tallied 17 kills. DeBruler added 10 kills and 16 digs in the match.

For their efforts, both Bangert and DeBruler were named to the All-Tournament team, DeBruler’s second tournament recognition in as many weekends.

Hardin was impressed by what he saw in both Bangert and McCulley, and he believes they are emerging as star support for DeBruler.

“I feel like as the season goes, I’m stepping up in the position,” McCulley said. “As we work together more, it fits together better.

“Every week in practice we work on something different, but we never forget about the stuff we worked on the week before and we continue to improve in all our areas,” McCulley added. “I feel like the sky is the limit for us.”