HR0777 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0777 LRB097 20213 KXB 65643 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the University of Illinois Women's Volleyball team on its impressive season; and

WHEREAS, The team advanced to the NCAA national semifinals for the first time in 23 years and reached the NCAA National Championship Match for the first time in school history; Illinois finished the year with a 32-5 record and finished second in the Big Ten with a 16-4 mark; and

WHEREAS, In addition, Illinois earned the No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament and started its run to the Final Four with convincing straight set wins over Central Michigan and Marquette at Huff, bringing the Illini's all-time postseason home record to 22-3; and

WHEREAS, An ESPN2 audience witnessed one of the epic points in the history of the sport; it came at match point of the national semifinal between Illinois and USC; 55 touches, 18 over the net volleys, and 68 seconds of electric play later, the Illini completed a 5-set win over the nation's top ranked team and earned a spot in the national championship match; and

WHEREAS, The Illini began the year 20-0, the second most wins to start a season in school history; it resulted in the school's first number one ranking in the AVCA coaches poll; for the first time since 1992, Illinois played 2 home matches in front of near capacity crowds of 4,000-plus; and

WHEREAS, In Illinois' first weekend at number one, a sellout crowd of 4,261 saw a battle of the last 2 unbeaten teams in Illinois and Purdue; for the first time ever, Illinois swept the season series from the Nittany Lions winning matches at home and on the road; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Volleyball Head Coach is Kevin Hambly, Assistant Coaches are Jen Oldenburg and David Kniffin, and the Volunteer Assistant Coach is Jen Fry; the team members are: Courtney Abrahamovich, Michelle Bartsch, Jennifer Beltran, Jocelynn Birks, Morganne Criswell, Hannah Deterding, Anna Dorn, Rachel Feldman, Jessica Jendryk, Erin Johnson, Annie Luhrsen, Liz McMahon, Tayler Onion, Jazmine Orozco, Ali Stark, Colleen Ward, and Jackie Wolfe; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the University of Illinois Women's Volleyball team on an impressive season and wish team members and coaches continued success in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the University of Illinois Women's Volleyball team as a symbol of our respect and esteem.