CHAMPAIGN – With a 3-7 record at the midway point of the Big Ten Conference race, the University of Illinois volleyball team appears ripe for a jolt.

On Friday, coach Don Hardin intends to flip the switch.

When the Illini play Indiana at 7 p.m. in Huff Hall in a matchup of seventh-place teams, be on the lookout for a new-look lineup.

"I like what it does for our team," said Hardin, whose team has lost its last three matches and four of its last five. "We want to run a system now that gives our players an opportunity to play off of each other's strengths and hide a few weaknesses or inconsistencies that have occurred."

The switch centers around the use of three middle blockers – Cristy Chapman, Betsy Spicer and Sara Sorrell. At times, all three could be on the floor together, with Sorrell playing outside hitter on the right side.

With the recent emergence of Spicer, the 6-foot Sorrell had seen her playing time diminish. Now, she has an opportunity to be on the floor more at a spot better suited to her height, Hardin said.

"That's really where she belongs, technically," Hardin said, "because she's always had a short reach to keep up with what she's doing. She's such a fabulous athlete and competitor that she's been making itwork.

"What we need to do is allow Sara's blocking and passing in the match somehow but perhaps not as much in the middle."

Under the new plan, Sorrell will play two rotations at right outside hitter and one rotation in the middle.

Spicer will remain in the middle until it's the 6-1 freshman's turn to rotate to the back row. Then outside hitter Annie Stoessel will take her place.

The 6-2 Chapman is slated for two rotations in the middle and one as right outside hitter, with defensive specialist Heidi Coulter taking her place in the back row most of the time. Chapman played on the right side as a freshman in 1995 when both she and Hardin were at Louisville.

The switches are designed to place Illinois' tallest blockers in the middle on most rotations while also beefing up the team's block on the right side. In conference matches only, the Illini rank ninth in the Big Ten in blocking.

The moves also allow Hardin to use his best ball handlers in the back row throughout the various rotations.

The switch has been in the works since early last week, when assistant coach Jeff Hulsmeyer first suggested it. Hardin liked the idea but wanted more time to refine it and also to give his team ample practice with it. Thus, he held off on implementing until this weekend.

"It's taken some days to iron it out," Hardin said. "It's a tremendous challenge to ask them to take on something new right now, but I think they're ready for it."

As a byproduct, the new look should make it more difficult for opponents to prepare for the UI.

"You don't go through the second part of the Big Ten, I don't think, without something new in your bag," Hardin said. "There are too many good coaches and players that pick apart systems. You have to have something unique or different to throw at them from time to time."

Only time will tell whether the changes help fuel a resurgence of the 12-8 Illini. Or whether a soul-searching meeting among the players on Sunday that lasted nearly three hours will translate into better play.

The players-only gathering was called in the wake of Saturday's disheartening 3-0 loss to ninth-place Iowa.

"I guess there were other wake-up calls, but this was the final one, the one we needed to talk about," Coulter said. "Everybody got out what they wanted to say, what was bothering them."

One common complaint, Coulter said, was how joyless volleyball had become.

"We did find out that there was a big chunk of us that was not having fun anymore," she said. "We play volleyball to have fun and ... that's not what's happening anymore. It shows on the court and it shows in our attitude."