NCAA TOURNAMENT: REGIONALS
Match 34: Regional Semifinal vs. Michigan State	Friday, December 8, 2017 | 3 p.m. CT | Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. Video: ESPN3 or WatchESPN app | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Regional Semifinal: Penn State vs. Missouri	Friday, December 8, 2017 | 1 p.m. CT | Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. TV: ESPNU or WatchESPN app | Livestats
Regional Final	Saturday, December 9, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT | Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. TV: ESPNU or WatchESPN app | Livestats | Radio: WDWS 1400 (If Illinois advances)
Related Links	Coach Tamas Press Conference | University Park Regional Central | NCAA Championship Central | Interactive Bracket | Printable Bracket
Full Match Notes	Illinois | Michigan State | Penn State | Missouri
Statistics	Illinois | Michigan State | Penn State | Missouri
Series History	Michigan State: Illinois leads, 49-27; Last Match: Illinois lost, 3-0, on 11/10/2017; Streak: Lost 2 | Results Penn State: Illinois trails, 10-45; Last Match: Illinois lost, 3-0, on 10/28/2017; Streak: Lost 4 | Results Missouri: Illinois leads, 6-1-1; Last Match: Illinois won, 3-1, on 11/30/2001; Streak: Won 3 | Results
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ILLINI SET FOR NCAA REGIONAL ACTION

With their third-straight five-set victory on Saturday (December 2) night, the 2017 Illinois volleyball team advanced to the 17th Sweet 16 appearance in program history and the first for head coach Chris Tamas. 

The Illini will meet a familiar foe on Friday (December 8) in the University Park Regional as they face off with fellow Big Ten member Michigan State at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN3 in Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University. 

The opening match of the University Park Regional between host and No. 1 seed Penn State and Missouri is set for 1 p.m. CT and will be aired on ESPNU.

Winners of Friday's matches will then meet in the Regional Final on Saturday (December 9) at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU for the chance to advance to the NCAA National Semifinals in Kansas City on December 14.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

Unlike last weekend, the Illini are very familiar with two of the three other teams at the University Park Regional as fellow conference members Michigan State and Penn State join Missouri in State College. 

The Illini lead in the all-time series with the Spartans, 49-27, but dropped the only meeting between the two teams in a 3-0 setback in East Lansing on November 10. 

Redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince paced the Illini against then-No. 8 MSU with 13 kills, while freshsman Megan Cooney added eight kills on the night. Junior Jordyn Poulter totaled 29 assists and two service aces for the Illini, with senior Brandi Donnelly posting a match-high 16 digs in the setback. As a team, the Illini outblocked the Spartans, nine to four, with freshman Tyanna Omazic turning in a match-high seven blocks.

UI trails in the all-time series with the Nittany Lions, 10-45, including both meetings between the two teams earlier this season - falling 3-0 in Rec Hall in the first meeting on September 29 and again in staight-sets in Huff Hall on October 28.

In the two matches, sophomore Jacqueline Quade leads the Illini offense with 25 total kills for a 4.17 kills per set average. Poulter owns an 11.50 assists per set average against PSU this season, while Bastianelli has posted 11 blocks for a 1.83 blocks per set mark. 

Against the third opponent and potention Saturday foe, Missouri, the Illini hold a 6-1-1 advantage in the all-time series and last met in 2001 when the Illini earned a 3-1 win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Huff Hall.

LAST TIME OUT

After a gutsy five-set victory over Hawaii last Saturday (December 1) night to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Illinois volleyball team had a little bit more dramatics in store on Saturday night against host and No. 8 seed Washington.

With their third-straight five-set win, the Illini earned a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the eighth time in 10 years with a gritty, come-from-behind performance against the Huskies in Seattle.

Sophomore Jacqueline Quade was one of three Illini with double figure kills with a team-high 17 kills, while freshman Megan Cooney added 13 and redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince turned in 12 on the night.

Junior Jordyn Poulter registered her third-straight double-double – the 23rd of her career and 13th of the season – with 49 assists and 11 digs, while also adding seven kills on a .462 hitting percentage and directing the offense to a .287 team attack percentage.

The Illini block was strong again with 13 blocks to UW's nine, with junior Ali Bastianelli leading the way with eight stuffs and Quade notching six in the win.

Defensively, senior Brandi Donnelly totaled a team-high 16 digs, with freshman Morgan O'Brien adding 12 digs.

POULTER & BASTIANELLI NAMED AVCA ALL-REGION

Juniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli added another accolade to their growing list as the duo was named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Northeast Region for the second-straight season, as elected by the region's head coaches, the organization announced on Tuesday (December 5).

It is the fourth time in five years that the Illini have had at least two representatives on the All-Region Team and the first time since 2008-09 that a teammate duo has earned back-to-back all-region accolades following former Illini greats Michelle Bartsch and Laura DeBruler. 

POULTER: One of main catalysts for the Illini, Poulter has totaled 1,317 assists for a 10.71 assists per set average this season to rank 47th in the nation and eighth in the Big Ten, while leading the Illini to a .276 team hitting percentage. A native of Aurora, Colorado, she also ranked second on the team with 111 blocks and 299 digs, for a 0.90 blocks and 2.43 digs per set average, while also adding 106 kills on a .375 hitting percentage and 15 service aces.

The only player in the Big Ten to rank in the top 15 in assists and blocks in both overall and conference statistics through the end of the regular season, Poulter has registered 13 double-doubles this season to up her career total to 23 and came within one kill of the program's 13th double-double in a win over Iowa on Senior Night.

BASTIANELLI: After leading the nation in blocks per set a season ago, Bastianelli has continued her success at the net this season, pacing the Big Ten and ranking fourth in the county with 1.61 stuffs per set, while also sitting 34th in the county and sixth in conference with a .377 hitting percentage. Her 193 total blocks – including 19 solo stuffs – also rank first in the league and second in the NCAA. In conference action, Bastianelli has continued to shine, ranking third with a 1.39 blocks per set average and eighth with a .344 attack clip.

The Marysville, Michigan, native has started in all 33 matches this season, seeing action in all but three sets. Along with leading the Illini in blocks and hitting percentage, she also ranked third with 298 kills for a 2.48 kills per set average and added 37 digs, 10 service aces and three assists on the season. 

ILLINI IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Illinois is making its 24th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their eighth of the last 10 seasons. The Illini own a 40-23 record all-time in postseason play and have advanced to Regionals on eight occasions since 2008, including a run to the National Championship match in 2011.

Prior to 2017, the Illini's last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2015, when UI advanced to their 16th regional in program history. Illinois took a straight-sets win over Southern Illinois in the opening round and a 3-1 victory over host and No. 15 seed Louisville in the second, before falling to No. 2 seed Minnesota in a 3-0 setback in the NCAA Des Moines Regional.

ILLINI QUARTET EARN BIG TEN POSTSEASON HONORS

The Illinois volleyball team had four players honored when the Big Ten Conference announced its postseason awards on November 28, as juniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli repeated as All-Big Ten selections, rookie Megan Cooney was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince was tabbed as Illinois' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.

It is the second-straight season the Illini have had two honorees on the All-Big Ten team after the junior duo also earned the accolades a season ago. Poulter and Bastianelli also become the 13th and 14th players in program history to repeat as all-conference selections and the first since Jocelynn Birks was a three-time honoree in 2015.

ILLINI IN THE POLLS

In the final regular season NCAA volleyball RPI, the Fighting Illini volleyball team held strong in the top 30 and sit at No. 26 heading into the postseason. 

After debuting at No. 24 in the season's first RPI on October 2, the Illini reached their season-high of No. 19 on October 16.

The Illini have also appeared in the receiving votes section of the AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll for 13-straight weeks after entering the rankings on September 4.

ILLINI IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

The Illini continued their strong blocking game and rank 12th in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in blocks per set at a 2.90 clip as well as eighth in total blocks (356.5) and 17th in hitting percentage (.276). 

Individually, junior Ali Bastianelli ranks fourth in the nation with 1.61 blocks per set, second with 193 total blocks and is 34th with a .377 hitting percentage.

Junior Jordyn Poulter also ranks 47th with a 10.71 assists per set average and is 18th with 1,317 total helpers.

SUPER SENIOR BRANDI DONNELLY

In her time in the Orange and Blue, senior Brandi Donnelly has made a place for herself in the Illini record books and two weeks ago she moved into second place in the program's history for career digs. On Saturday night against Hawaii, Donnelly became just the second player in program history to register 2,000 digs with 21 on the night and currently owns 2,022 in her four years. Former great Jennifer Beltran (2010-13) holds the record with 2,220 digs in her four seasons.

One of the most durable Illini to ever suit up, Donnelly had started in all 115 matches the Illini had played in until being sidelined with an injury on October 6 against Purdue. 

She returned to action on November 1 against Northwestern and led the Illini with 14 digs in her first match back at libero. Since her return, Donnelly has averaged an impressive 4.64 digs per set.

In her four years, Donnelly has seen action in 457 of 459 sets she has suited up for, missing only two sets during her freshman campaign. The only matches Donnelly has not seen action in are this season's seven matches when she was out with an injury. 

POULTER REACHES 3,000 CAREER ASSISTS

The quarterback of the Illini offense since she arrived on campus in 2015, junior Jordyn Poulter entered the top 10 in career assists earlier this season and with 52 helpers in a win over Iowa on October 20 became just the eighth player to reach 3,000 assists in program history. 

She currently ranks seventh all-time with 3,595 helpers, with  Merrill Mullis (1990-93), who owns 3,689 assists in sixth place, next in Poulter's path. Melissa Beitz (1996-99) ranks first in program history with 5,797 assists from 1996-99.

BLOCKIN' BASTIANELLI IN THE RECORD BOOKS

In just three seasons, junior Ali Bastianelli has etched her named in the Illini record books and with eight blocks against No. 5 Minnesota on October 25, the Marysville, Mich., native became just the sixth player in program history to reach 500 career total blocks. She currently sits third with 561 stuffs and is just seven blocks away from entering in a tie for second with Mary Eggers (1985-88), while former player and director of operations Johannah Bangert owns the program record with 653 blocks from 2007-10.  

Bastianelli has also entered the top 10 for career blocks assists this season and currently sits in third place with 512. Anna Dorn (2010-14) sits 18 block assists away in second place with 530, while Bangert also holds the career record for block assists at 613.

TAMAS NAMED EIGHTH VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH

Following the departure of former head coach Kevin Hambly to Stanford in January, Director of Athletes Josh Whitman selected Chris Tamas as the new head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program on February 10, 2017.  He is the eighth head coach in the history of the program.

Tamas came to Illinois following many years learning from some of the game's great coaches, including John Cook at Nebraska and former U.S. National Team coaches Hugh McCutcheon and Ron Larsen. In all, Tamas is in his ninth year of collegiate coaching including two years at Nebraska, two years at Cal Poly, two years at Minnesota and two years at UC-Riverside.

Tamas is a 2003 graduate of the University of the Pacific with a degree in sports sciences. He was a four-year starter for the Tigers and a unanimous AVCA All-American first team selection and team MVP during his 2003 senior season. In four years with the U.S. Men's National Team (1999, 2003, 2005-06), Tamas made 34 appearances, and, in 1999, helped the squad to a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Havana. As national team captain in 2003, Tamas helped lead the United State to a bronze medal at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea.

A training camp invitee for the U.S. squad that eventually captured the 2008 Olympic gold medal, Tamas also helped U.S. teams to silver at the 2005 World Grand Champions Cup in Japan and, as a setter, to a gold at the 2006 NORCECA Championships in Mexicali, Mexico.

As a professional, Tamas competed for six years overseas with clubs Protect Eye Orion (Netherlands), Antigos Alunos (Portugal), Real Grupo (Spain), Erdemir (Turkey), Dionysos (Cyprus) and Isku (Finland). In Finland and Cyprus, Tamas helped his clubs to national cup championships.