Boys soccer

Hamer comes up big in first varsity game as Illineks down Hilltoppers

URBANA — With sophomore goalkeeper Nile Hamer playing his first varsity game, the Uni boys soccer team upset Danville Schlarman 3-1 Friday afternoon.

The visiting Hilltoppers came into the contest with a 4-1-1 record and a well-deserved reputation as one of the toughest teams Uni plays each season. Last year Uni traveled to Danville with a 12-1 record and lost to the Hilltoppers 2-0.

This year's contest didn't begin well for the Illineks. Senior goalkeeper Isaac Radnitzer, who has recorded 5 shutouts and given up just 10 goals in 10 games, wasn't able to play because of a toe injury he suffered in Thursday's 4-0 win over Iroquois West.

The goalkeeping duties fell to Hamer, making his debut as a varsity starter.

The Hilltoppers didn't cut the newcomer any slack, scoring just 26 seconds into the contest.

"It was like a clinic," Uni head coach Philip Anders said of Schlarman's performance at the start of the game.

But the Illineks didn't let themselves get down. Ten minutes into the game, the Hilltoppers' goalkeeper bobbled a direct kick by senior Jake Seeley. Sophomore Dan Lilly took advantage of the error and scored his sixth goal of the season.

"At that point we knew we could play with them," Lilly said.

Three minutes later, Lilly set up Seeley with a through-pass, and the senior netted his fifth goal of the year.

Schlarman had an excellent opportunity to even the score on a penalty kick 8 minutes, 46 seconds into the second half. But Hamer judged his opponent correctly, diving toward the left corner of the goal as the Schlarman player launched his kick. The ball hit the left post and bounced out of harm's way.

"As a goalie you're taught to look at the kicker's eyes," Hamer recalled. "He looked in the other direction, so I figured he was trying to fake me out."

For the remainder of the game Uni's defense did an outstanding job of clearing the ball and minimizing Schlarman's scoring chances. At the same time, the Illineks kept up the offensive pressure.

With 9:56 left, junior Holden Bucher scored the final goal of the day, his fifth of the year. Senior Julian Hartman assisted after Seeley got things started with a crossover. Bucher, attacking from the left side, finished the play with a shot to the upper right corner of the net.

On the day Uni had 12 shots on goal, 7 in the first half.

Hamer made 10 saves, 6 in the first half.

"Nile has come a long way," Anders said.

With the nonconference victory, Uni is now 7-3-1 overall. The Illineks will travel to Decatur on Tuesday to take on the Lutheran School Association in an East Central Illinois Conference game. Uni is 1-1 in the ECIC.

Girls volleyball

Uni makes quick work of DeLand-Weldon

URBANA — Uni sports fans who wanted to take in a Friday doubleheader of boys soccer in the late afternoon and girls volleyball in the early evening needed to move fast.

If they spent too much time at the DCR Soccer Complex celebrating the boys' win over Schlarman, they would have missed girls' 2-game conference victory over visiting DeLand-Weldon at Kenney Gym.

That's because the varsity-only match, which began at 6 p.m., went by quickly as Uni dispatched the Eagles 25-18, 25-15.

The win raises the Illineks' record to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in the East Central Illinois Conference.

"We usually have a little trouble against DeLand for whatever reason," coach Amanda Palla said. "They're a scrappy team, and they have one or two hard hitters, but mainly they just get a lot of touches.

"So we worked in practice this week on finishing — putting the ball away on our hits — and the girls did really well with that. We also probably had 8 to 10 aces on the night, so that was great. All in all they just decided they wanted to show up and play tonight."

The victory came three days after the team's only conference loss of the season, an 18-25, 25-13, 22-25 defeat at the hands of visiting Normal Calvary Baptist. After Uni built a 19-17 lead in the decisive third game, the Crusaders came back to outscore the Illineks 8-3 for the win.

"I think the girls were disappointed," Palla said, "but I also think they knew it was our game to win, and we didn't do it. So I think they're motivated to do it when we go to Normal [on Oct. 5], and hopefully we can do it in 2. That would be nice."

Against DeLand-Weldon, junior middle hitter Rachel Skoza led the team with 7 kills, followed by senior Karen Woodley with 3 and senior Claire Johnson with 2.

Senior Ruthie Welch continued to add to her school-record career assists with 8 (she now has more than 700). Junior setter Sheri Grill added 3.

Skoza recorded 3 blocks; Woodley and senior Sarah Pfander each had 2.

Senior libero Jamie Weiser led Uni with 7 digs; Welch and sophomore Michelle Wong had 4 apiece.

The final tally on aces came to 8 overall, with Welch scoring 3 and Pfander and junior Annie Machesky each scoring 2.

The Illineks will host Fisher on Monday, with JV action beginning at 6 p.m. Uni will hope to repeat last year's win over the Bunnies.