Because Illinois middle blocker Lisa Argabright tried to overtake an Illini great, Argabright — and the Illini — found themselves with trophies in their hands.

The Illinois volleyball team (7-1) won the Connecticut Invitational Tournament in Storrs, Conn., over the weekend, extending their winning streak to seven matches. Argabright was named tournament MVP while chasing former All-American Nancy Brookhart's attack percentage record.

"Being one kill away from the best performance ever at Illinois is remarkable and back then we had some really damn good players like Brookhart and Mary Eggers on teams ranked number one and in the top five," Illinois head coach Don Hardin said. Hardin was an assistant coach with the Illini when Brookhart set the record.

Argabright vied for the volleyball team's attack percentage record in the first match of the tournament against Manhattan. She wound up three hundredths of a point short. Argabright hit .938; recording kills on 15 of her 16 swings. She was just one kill away from tying Brookhart's record of .941. Behind Argabright the Illini swept Manhattan in three games.

"Honestly I had no idea," Argabright said of going after the record. "(Illinois assistant director of communications) Derrick Burson came to me after the match and told me. It is really cool to be right there, it is such an unbelievable record."

Illinois junior setter Erin Virtue joined Argabright on the all-tournament team. Virtue set up the Illini offense, leading the team to a .301 attack percentage for the whole tournament.

Virtue did more than pass the ball. Against Akron, Virtue had a career-high 25 digs to go along with 44 assists and four aces. She got the ball to Argabright for 21 kills and to senior outside hitter Melissa Vandrey for 14 kills. Illinois defeated Akron in four games.

"Virtue is the quaint-essential competitor," Hardin said.

Virtue has made the all-tournament team at all three tournaments Illinois has played in. She averaged 12.8 assists and 4.2 digs for this weekend's tournament. Argabright won her second tournament MVP of the season averaging 4.5 kills, 1.4 blocks and hitting .580 for the tournament. The duo has clicked on offense, leading them to tournament recognition.

"We worked a lot in the spring together and I think the way we're both so competitive helps," Virtue said.

In the Illini's final game of the tournament against host Connecticut, Illinois attacked from the outside, deviating from the Argabright's lead attack of the first two tournament matches. They swept the Huskies in three games.

Vandrey sparked the Illini on offense and defense as she recorded a double-double, 15 kills and 11 digs. Fellow outside hitters, junior Jessica Belter and sophomore Rachel Van Meter each had 10 kills.

Despite Argabright's dominating performance the last two weeks, Hardin knows she still has more in her.

"She keeps getting better and better," Hardin said. "She played like this some in Brazil. She still hasn't reached all of her potential. She is much stronger in physical conditioning and can withstand tension and stress without dealing with fatigue. That has helped her."