Jeff Huth's Illini Insider

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Weekend watch

Three Illini events to keep an eye on this weekend:

VOLLEYBALL

Penn State at Huff Hall

It's not often that the nation's top-ranked team – in any sport – comes to Champaign-Urbana. Infinitely rarer, still, when a two-time defending national champion hits town. Penn State fits both descriptions – and much more – heading into Saturday's 7 p.m. match against No. 15 Illinois (8-1). The Nittany Lions (12-0) take an NCAA-record 76-match winning streak into their Big Ten opener Friday at Northwestern before heading to Huff Hall. The sixth-time defending conference champions haven't lost since Sept. 15, 2007, against Stanford.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Soccerfest at Illinois Soccer/Track Stadium

Speaking of fan attractions, history tells us that folks really like the Illini's annual Soccerfest. The first three attracted the top three home crowds in UI soccer history, led by the 2,667 who attended the 2006 match against Penn State. Soccerfest No. 4 is Sunday at 1 p.m. against defending Big Ten co-champion Minnesota. The UI promotions folks not only are targeting a school attendance mark but also the current record for an intraleague Big Ten match: 2,919 for Purdue at Indiana in 2003. Feel free to leave your wallet at home. Admission is free. So is the food and games. There also will be giveaways and live music. Gates open at 11:30 a.m.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

At Wake Forest Fall Invitational

The Illini open their season this weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C., with every reason for optimism. Michelle Dasso's fourth UI team returns all but one player from the 2008-09 squad that won an NCAA tournament match for the first time since 2003, ended the season No. 33 in the national rankings and finished third in the Big Ten – highest since 2003. With seven returnees and two TennisRecruiting.net "blue-chippers," Dasso continues to raise her bar of expectations. "We want a Big Ten title," she said. "We want to be making the Sweet 16 and have a top-16 ranked program with the ability to host in the NCAA tournament, like we did last year. The goals we've set are really high, but they're attainable at the same time." That quest begins Friday in a six-team tournament at Wake Forest. The field for the three-day event includes defending NCAA champion Duke.

Illini of the Week

DENNIS NEVOLO, Tennis

When the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason rankings were announced early this month, Nevolo received the No. 24 spot in singles. That ranking was immediately put to the test in the season-opening Fighting Illini/Olympia Fields Invitational last weekend in suburban Chicago. Although the sophomore opened with a close loss to an unranked foe, he rebounded with straight-sets victories against No. 8 Jean-Yves Aubone of Florida State and No. 79 Carl Sundberg of Miami. Nevolo wasn't done with Aubone. On the final day, the Gurnee native and doubles partner Marek Czerwinski knocked off Florida State's seventh-ranked tandem of Vahid Mirzadeh and Aubone. Nevolo finished the tournament with a combined singles and doubles record of 6-1.

News & Views

Canada calls

Chris Robinson seemingly doesn't have much of a future in the Chicago Cubs' farm system, but Baseball Canada always has the welcome mat out for the former Illini catcher. Robinson has represented his native country in four major international tournaments since 2006, including this month's International Baseball Federation World Cup in Nettuno, Italy. Robinson started six games as Canada went 8-2 in the preliminaries to reach the eight-team final round, which begins today. The 2004 Illini MVP has hit .286 (6 for 21) with six RBI and five runs in the tournament. He's made a major impact behind the plate, too, throwing out six of nine runners attempting to steal. This is Robinson's second IBF World Cup. In addition, he played for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2008 Olympics. Robinson hit .326 in 91 games for Class AAA Iowa this season, with 22 doubles and 48 RBI, before leaving in late August to join Canada's World Cup team. Despite those strong offensive numbers, the former third-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers never was added to the Chicago Cubs' 40-man roster, even when starting catcher Geovany Soto was sidelined from July 7 to Aug. 6 with a left oblique strain. A player must be on an MLB team's 40-man roster to be eligible for its active major league roster.

Challenge(ing) times

The schedule for the 2010 Big Ten/Big East Baseball Challenge has been released, and this time the Illini won't face a fellow conference member.

The second Challenge is scheduled for Feb. 26-28, 2010, at current and former Major League Baseball facilities in the Tampa Bay area.

The Illini open against Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. (CST) on Feb. 26 at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. Illinois takes on South Florida at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at Bright House Field in Clearwater and concludes the tournament with a game against St. John's at 9 a.m. Feb. 28 at the Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg.

Illinois went 2-1 in the inaugural Challenge, including an opening win against Iowa. A few Big Ten schools played one intraconference game during the 2009 event because not all Big East teams were available for the inaugural tournament. In 2010, all contests will be interconference.

Quick turnaround

The Illini women's golf team is advised to keep its bags – golf and luggage – packed this week. After concluding a season-opening tournament in the Denver area Wednesday, Renee Slone's squad has tee times Sunday in Madison, Wis. Illinois heads to the Wisconsin capital for the Lady Northern Intercollegiate, considered a must stop on any Big Ten women's golf team's schedule. That's because the site of this annual event also is the location of the conference tournament the following spring. It's an opportunity for league teams to check out the course – in this case, the University Ridge Golf Course – before playing it again with a Big Ten title at stake. The 2010 league tournament is April 23-25.

Eddleman Award Watch

Each week we'll rank our top three candidates for the 2009-10 Dike Eddleman Award, which annually goes to the top male and female athletes at the University of Illinois.

MALE

1. Dennis Nevolo, tennis. Sophomore 9-7 in singles vs. ranked foes in UI career.

2. Ian Thomas, football. Sophomore linebacker eighth in Big Ten in tackles per game.

3. Colin Mickow, cross-country. Two meets, two times Illinois' top finisher.

FEMALE

1. Laura DeBruler, volleyball. Junior outside hitter No. 2 in nation in kills per set.

2. Hillary Haen, volleyball. Junior setter still national leader in assists per set.

3. Jordan Hilbrands, soccer. Junior forward tied for third in Big Ten in goals.

The list

Senior goalkeeper Alexandra Kapicka earned her third shutout of the season last Friday against Loyola, increasing her career total to 12. The second-year starter ranks third on the all-time Illini list. The top five:

NAME SHUTOUTS YEARS

Lindsey Carstens 28 2004-07

Leisha Alcia 24 2001-04

Alexandra Kapicka 12 2006-present

Sarah Heggen 8 1998-2000

Sarah Anderson 7 2000-01

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