Touching all the Bases

Final thoughts on a Sweet 16 season

Posted by: Jeff Huth

Saturday, December 13, 2008 3:21 PM

Some final thoughts on the Illini volleyball team's Sweet 16 season:

With virtually all of Illinois' key players returning next season, expectations certainly will be raised in 2009.
But what should those expectations be? It doesn't appear Penn State's grip on the Big Ten will end any time soon, as Russ Rose's juggernaut in Happy Valley shows no signs of letting up. Not with that annual parade of prep All-Americans lining up to replace graduating college All-Americans.
If a 2009 Big Ten title seems unlikely, Illinois certainly appears equipped to make a run at second place. And given what the Illini accomplished this year, anything less than third place would be a letdown.
Something to keep in mind, however. Four of the five teams in the Big Ten reached the Sweet 16, a powerful statement about the quality and depth of the league. And many of the primary players who fueled those runs will be back in 2009. Of the 13 players on this year's All-Big Ten team, merely three were seniors. That's a lot of firepower returning next season. Yes, Illinois can and should expect to be better in 2009. But there are more than a few other conference teams that have reason to feel the same way.

In other words, this could be a real dogfight for second place next year. So don't assume the Illini have an edge in that race simply because of all of its returning talent.

Then there are the wild-card factors: Can Illinois avoid significant injuries? How smooth will the transition in the UI coach staff be following the retirement of Don Hardin?

Those same wild-card factors loom large, too, for a team that says it won't be satisfied with only reaching the Sweet 16 next year. Nor should it. An Elite Eight appearance might be a more reasonable goal than a Big Ten title.
It should be fascinating to follow.
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Another question: Will the new Illini coach continue to use a two-setter attack or return to a 5-1 alignment? With Lizzie Bazzetta graduating, Hillary Haen will be the only proven commodity at the position next season.
The 6-2 attack worked out great for Illinois this season, both offensively and in the way it bolstered the block. Even when injuries forced Hardin to keep Haen on the court for all rotations, the two-setter was effective because the 5-foot-11 Haen usually was up to the task of providing a credible block when she was in the front row.
Just a guess, but unless another setter really emerges next season, the next Illini coach uses a 5-1 attack with Haen at the controls full-time. She'll be the only setter on the roster with any collegiate experience.
Others in the 2009 setting corps will be incoming freshman Jackie Wolfe of Wheaton Warrenville South and Keelin Bourne, a freshman who redshirted this season following hip surgery. And the current UI staff viewed Bourne's best position as right-side hitter.
Unless either Bourne or Wolfe can approach the level of play Bazzetta provided this season - hardly likely from such an inexperienced duo - it appears Haen is the best full-time option to quarterback the attack.
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There's reason for Kylie McCulley - and the next Illini coaching staff - to be excited about her prospects for 2009. The junior outside hitter has experienced an uneven college career - primarily due to injuries - but she was a force down the stretch. McCulley reached double figures in kills in each of the last four matches and was the team leader in kills in three of Illinois' final seven matches. That's no mean feat on a team that includes kill machine Laura DeBruler.
McCulley credited her late surge to improvement in a foot injury that bothered her virtually the entire season. Hardin suggested that the Clinton native might need another surgery on the foot to address a nerve problem that arose from the first surgery. If that finally corrects the problem, Illinois could have one of the Big Ten's most potent 1-2 punches on the left side next season. As McCulley showed down the stretch, when she is feeling close to 100 percent, she can give opponents fits with her swing.

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