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CHAMPAIGN – The Illinois volleyball team's rise in the national rankings continued Monday – to its highest level in 22 years.

Three days after sweeping then-No. 2 Texas on the Longhorns' court, the Illini (5-0) attained the No. 3 spot in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll.

The ranking is Illinois' second highest ever behind the UI team that was No. 2 the week of Sept. 6-12, 1988. That squad finished the season No. 4 after reaching the NCAA Final Four and losing in the semifinals.

Illini coach Kevin Hambly downplayed the significance of his team's lofty new ranking, particularly because it comes two weeks into the schedule.

"It's still early in the season and there's a long way to go before teams start to sort themselves out," he said. "It's nice to be recognized that we have a good team and to be ranked that high.

"But, really, the polls are for the media and for fans, and really have no bearing on anything for our team. We don't focus on them. It doesn't mean anything to us. We look at the team for what it is, not where they're ranked. We look at ourselves that way and we look at our opponents that way."

Illinois, which was No. 5 in the previous poll, now trails No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Stanford.

An Illini move up the poll was expected after they knocked off a Texas team that finished second in the 2009 NCAA tournament and had won its last 25 home matches.

Their rise gained further momentum when Hawaii, ranked No. 4 last week, lost Sunday in five sets to Southern California at Honolulu.

"Once Texas and Hawaii lost, I kind of figured that's what would happen," Hambly said, "because we didn't lose and we were fifth, and (Nos.) 2 and 4 lost. ... We were prepared for that (move up) as a staff. I don't know if the team was prepared for that, but we were prepared for it as a staff."

Big Ten honors duo. A pair of Illini volleyball players received Big Ten weekly awards, the conference announced Monday.

Right-side hitter Michelle Bartsch was named Player of the Week and libero Jennifer Bonilla was selected Co-Freshman of the Week for their performances last weekend at Austin, Texas.

Bartsch earned tournament MVP honors after hitting .514 in two matches for the champion Illini. The junior had 10 kills in 19 errorless swings in a three-set sweep of second-ranked Texas on Friday. A day later, Bartsch contributed nine kills – with one error – in 16 attempts in a sweep of Florida A&M. For the tournament, the Maryville native averaged 3.8 kills and 1.0 blocks per set.

Bonilla had match highs of 18 digs against Texas and 13 digs against Florida A&M, averaging 5.2 per set. The Reseda, Calif., native also was 23 for 23 in service-receiving attempts in Illinois' second tournament match.