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Illini Notes: DE Named All-American; Volleyball Advances To First National Final & More

>> Illini DE AP First Team All American

Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus has been named a first-team member of the AP All America team.

Mercilus leads the country in sacks with 14 ½. The junior from Garfield, Ohio, emerged this season as a key piece of a defense that ranks fifth in the country in tackles for loss and ninth in sacks.

Mercilus has now been named to nine post-season All American teams.

Illinois (6-6) will play UCLA in the Dec. 31 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco.

The bowl game could be his last for Illinois. Mercilus has said he hasn't yet decided whether to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

>> Illini Plan To Hang Banners Honoring Hoops Coaches

Illinois plans to hang banners from the rafters of the Assembly Hall honoring four past basketball coaches.

The university said Thursday that banners for Lou Henson, Harry Combes, Doug Mills and Ralph Jones will join banners honoring 30 past players. The banners will be hung at games later this season. Henson's will be the first, at the Ohio State game on Jan. 10.

Current coach Bruce Weber said the banners are a good way of helping build Illinois' tradition. Henson has more wins than any basketball coach in school history with 423 over 21 seasons. He's expected to be at the game when his banner is raised.

Combes coached from 1948 through 1967 while Mills held the job from 1937 to 1947. Jones coached Illinois from 1913 to 1920.

>> UCLA, Illinois Advance To NCAA Volleyball Final

Senior outside hitter Colleen Ward had 27 kills and Illinois advanced to its first championship match in school history by upsetting USC in five sets in the NCAA semifinals.

Michelle Bartsch added 22 kills for the Illini (32-4) in the 25-27, 25-18, 25-22, 18-25, 15-10 win. They'll face UCLA in Saturday's championship at the Alamodome.

Alex Jupiter had 32 kills for USC (29-5). The Trojans lost in the semis for the second consecutive year after being pushed to five sets for a third consecutive match this tournament.

The Illini were playing in their first semifinal in 23 years. They'll face college volleyball royalty in the Bruins, who've won three championships, but none since 1991.

>>Illinois And UNLV Battle Tomorrow

(Chicago, IL)  --  The 19th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini will host the UNLV Rebels tomorrow at United Center.  Illinois ran its record to a perfect 10-and-0 Wednesday with an 80-63 win over Coppin State.  UNLV comes in at 10-and-2 after a 65-54 win over UTEP Wednesday.

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