Editor’s note: The Daily Illini sports desk sits down Sunday nights and decides which Illinois athlete or coach is our Illini of the Week. Athletes and coaches are evaluated by individual performance and contribution to team success.

Morganne Criswell stands in the middle of Huff Hall with a look of pure happiness on her face. She begins to jump up and down before bringing one knee up to her stomach and punching the air before her in celebration.

Criswell has just put away set point in the third set against No. 2 Penn State and, in doing so, has finally found her place.

After two years of scarce playing time for the Illinois volleyball team, the junior outside hitter has broken into the Illini’s rotation this season. Friday, Criswell topped her career high for kills with 21 against the Nittany Lions. Criswell led Illinois in kills on the weekend, finishing with 36 to go along with two blocks and three digs against Penn State and No. 24 Ohio State.

“I thought what she did against Penn State was great,” head coach Kevin Hambly said. “She hit .400, she was low error. You don’t really hit .400 on the outside versus Penn State. They’re one of the better teams at stopping the outside attack. We talked about adding her so we could get a little more offense, and she’s brought that and she’s getting better and better every match.”

Criswell’s energized play helped the Illini split the weekend’s matches, losing to the Nittany Lions in a closely contested five-set match Friday before bouncing back Sunday to beat the Buckeyes in four sets.

“She’s awesome,” sophomore setter Alexis Viliunas said. “It just has a whole different feel when she’s out there. She gets excited when anyone gets a point. She doesn’t just cheer for herself. She’ll get down on her knees, jump up in the air, she does everything. It makes everyone feel so good about themselves and gives people some confidence.”

Even though it’s hard to tell with the way Criswell celebrates now, she says she wasn’t always the extremely energetic on the court that she is today. She said she was known for not celebrating for herself or her team in high school.

Criswell, a Decatur, Ill. native, was an accomplished volleyball player at the Lutheran School Association in her high school career. Among other awards, Criswell was a four-time Under Armour AAU All-American, was named to the all-state second team as a junior, was a member of the Illini Elite Club team and was ranked No. 33 nationally as a senior by Prep Volleyball. She also helped her high school win four consecutive conference titles.

Despite all the accolades, Criswell played in just nine matches her freshman year at Illinois. Criswell saw time in 16 matches the following year and tallied 73 kills during the season.

With her time limited on the court, Criswell began to become a more vocal player on the sidelines to help encourage her teammates. She said although her energy started as a way to liven up her teammates, it has become something that gets her going as well.

“I got used to bringing energy from the bench and, if I played at all, relaying that to the court,” Criswell said. “Last year, I kinda had the same type of role and even the beginning of this year.”

Having only played in 56 sets in two years, Criswell decided to make a change. Over this past summer, she started focusing more on the parts of her game Hambly told her to work on: passing and blocking.

Criswell worked hard at becoming better in those areas, taking more away from drills Hambly runs in practice in the process.

“I used to kind of take it lightly, but now I’m really asking for information,” she said.

Her offseason work has paid dividends. Criswell has gained regular playing time this season, totaling 104 kills this year in 49 sets played, and Hambly said he has seen a big impact in her game.

“She’s become a very good passer,” Hambly said. “Her passing wasn’t great, and her block defense wasn’t great when she came and all of those are getting better and better. She still needs some work on the block. She still needs to improve, but she’s become an all-around volleyball player, so it’s hard to keep her off the floor right now.”

Criswell has been entrusted a number of times with converting kills in big situations, including set and match points against the likes of Michigan and Penn State. Sophomore setter Alexis Viliunas said her trust in Criswell comes from her growth as a player and from her confidence.

“She’s gotten a lot more confident than she was last season or even at the beginning of this season,” Viliunas said. “I’m really confident in her, and I know that she’s going to take a big swing and she’ll score.”

On her profile on the Fighting Illini website, Criswell lists her favorite quote as: “If you don’t like where you are, change it. You’re not a tree,” which is a saying from motivational speaker Jim Rohn. The quote Criswell said describes what her mother used to tell her when she was younger.

“It does really fit me,” Criswell said. “My mom’s always taught me that if you don’t like the position you’re in, you’re the leader of your own life. If you don’t like what you’re doing or where you’re at, you’re totally in power to make a change.”

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and @IlliniSportsGuy.