CHAMPAIGN – Paula Prentice may have lost her spot in the starting lineup, but it's becoming apparent she hasn't lost her ability to make an impact.

For the second match in a row, the junior outside hitter came off the bench and to the rescue of a University of Illinois volleyball team in dire need of a spark Wednesday night.

CHAMPAIGN – Next time, Ken Haselhorst will know to arrange for a bigger bus.

Turns out the 32-seater heading to Huff Hall today from Aviston wasn't big enough to meet demand.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Melissa Beitz was wondering when the competition would show up. Virginia ended her wait Saturday night.

The University of Illinois volleyball team needed just 58 minutes to win its season opener this morning, rolling to a 3-0 victory over Delaware in the the Jefferson Cup Tournament at Charlottesville, Va.

CHAMPAIGN – Don Hardin learned early in his tenure as University of Illinois volleyball coach the need to sharpen his translation skills.

The language of Illini fans, he discovered, was uniquely Big Tenese.

HANOVER PARK – For Sue Nucci, life after the University of Illinois didn't mean life without volleyball.

Upon completing her Illini career in 1994, Nucci was determined to remain active in the sport, even to the point of once traveling to Italy to try out for some professional teams. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter also eagerly fed her volleyball fix by playing for a Chicago-area team in USA Volleyball-sponsored tournaments.

CHAMPAIGN – On Saturday night, two Illini varsity teams were better than one in Don Hardin's eyes.

A year ago, in his first season as Illinois' head volleyball coach, Hardin sent a united team out on the Huff Hall court against an alumni squad and watched his players scramble to win the first game 17-15 en route to a 3-0 match triumph.

Saturday night, with a new format pairing alumni against alumni and varsity against varsity, Hardin was pleasantly surprised by his divided forces.

CHAMPAIGN – For the University of Illinois volleyball team, it was spring camp. For Melissa Beitz, it could just as well have been boot camp.