Volleyball team loses Edinger

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CHAMPAIGN – An injury has ended Ashley Edinger's record-setting volleyball career at Illinois.

An MRI test this week on the senior libero's left knee revealed a season-ending ACL tear, the school announced Wednesday. Edinger, the Illini's career digs leader, was injured Saturday during the third set of a Big Ten match at Purdue.

"Losing Ashley for the season is a tremendous blow at this stage, but at really any time," UI coach Kevin Hambly said. "She is certainly one of the top liberos in the Big Ten and the country."

The No. 5 Illini (18-3) will be without Edinger for their final eight regular season matches as well as the NCAA tournament.

During her career, the four-year starter rewrote the Illini record book for digs. Edinger needed 2 1/2 seasons to break the UI career mark that had stood since 1999. She finishes with 1,921 digs, the ninth most in Big Ten history and 495 more than Illini career runner-up Tracey Marshall.

The 5-foot-9 Edinger also owns three of the top four single-season dig totals in UI history, including a school-record 564 in 2007.

Although the Illini record for single-match digs – 38 by Petra Laverman in 1989 – eluded Edinger, her name is attached to six of the top nine single-match dig totals in school history. Her top single-match total was 37 against Northwestern in 2007.

"She has set a standard for excellence that will be tough to match," Hambly said.

The Illini coach will turn to sophomore Rachel Feldman as Edinger's replacement. The walk-on from Normal Community is in her second season with the team. After appearing in two matches as a freshman, Feldman has played on a limited basis in 16 of Illinois' 21 matches this season, including the first 13. She has seven digs.

Hambly expects his team, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten in digs, to meet the challenge of Edinger's absence. At the time of her injury, the Michigan City, Ind., native had 307 digs this season and averaged 4.09 digs per set.

"We are fortunate to have the type of team that we feel is resilient to this loss," he said, "and we have no choice but to move forward."

In men's golf:

Illini second. The sixth-ranked Illini finished the fall with their best two rounds of the season to bring home second place at the Turtle Bay Collegiate Invitational in Kahuku, Hawaii.

The Illini shot 11 under Wednesday and were 18 shots behind champ San Diego State.

Zach Barlow tied for sixth at 3 under, and Scott Langley and Luke Guthrie tied for eighth at 2 under.

In cross-country:

Duo honored. Junior Chantelle Groenewoud and sophomore Colin Mickow are the Illini recipients of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in men's and women's cross-country, the conference announced Wednesday.

One member of each Big Ten team is selected for the honor, which recognizes sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, award winners must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

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