Illini Classic Coverage
The Tournament Central website will be the best place to find coverage information, including live stats, video and audio links, as well as post-match results.
For more infomation on each participating team, see their complete game notes:
Illinois | Creighton | Louisville | Miami.
Ticket Information
Friday - $5 for a day pass for both matches. You must retain your stub for both matches. Tickets are available at Huff Hall or for purchase online here.
Saturday - $5 for a day pass for all four matches. You must retain your stub for all four matches. Tickets are available at Huff Hall or for purchase online here.
Single-match tickets for all Illinois volleyball games are now available online | BUY NOW
Parking Information
Free parking is located in the grass lot south of Huff Hall beginning at 1 pm on Friday. Lot E-12 opens at 5 pm on Friday. Both lots are available all day Saturday.
Illinois vs. the Field
The Illini are a combined 15-6 against the Illini Classic field, with 13 all-time matchups against Louisville. The Orange and Blue are the most familiar with their opening night opponent, holding a 9-4 edge over the Cardinals. Illinois and Louisville faced off every September from 2009-12, with the Illini claiming the first three matchups but then-No. 24 Louisville winning the most recent competition, taking down Illinois, 3-2, on Sept. 8, 2012, at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.
Illinois has faced Miami (Ohio) a total of five times but just twice since 1982. Both of those matches came on consecutive weeks in September, 2004, when Illinois claimed back-to-back sweeps to overtake the all-time series, 3-2.
The Orange and Blue have met Creighton just three times, with the first-ever meeting coming in 2007. The Illini have won all three matchups, including a 3-1 victory at last season's Creighton Classic.
A Familiar Face
When the Illini hit the court on Friday night, the opposing bench will feature a familiar face, as Louisville head coach Anne Kordes returns to Huff Hall. Kordes was the Illini's top assistant coach under Don Hardin from 1999-2003, where she helped lead the Orange and Blue to three NCAA Tournament appearances and a 90-61 record.
No. 1 Recruiting Class Hits the Court in '15
On May 28, 2015, PrepVolleyball.com released its annual recruiting class rankings, staking the claim that the Illini's incoming freshman class, featuring No. 3 Jordyn Poulter, No. 10 Ali Bastianelli and No. 52 Beth Prince, is projected to be the most talented group of recruits in the country. The ranking marked the fourth time during Kevin Hambly's tenure on staff that the Illini have brought in a top-10 class and the highest-rated class in program history.
A native of Aurora, Colorado, Poulter brings a depth of experience in international competition. She earned the Best Setter Award at the 2014 NORCECA U20 Championships after leading the U.S. Junior National Team to the gold medal in Guatemala last July, then led the U.S. Junior National Team to another gold medal in 2015, winning the European Global Challenge in Croatia. In 2013, she took home the Best Setter Award in Thailand at the 2013 FIVB U18 World Championships, leading the USA Girls Youth National Team to the silver medal, then played for the U.S. U23 Women's National Team at the 2013 FIVB World Championships in Mexico. An Under Armour High School First-Team All-American, she won the Andi Collins Award for the nation's top high school setter.
Hailing from Marysville, Michigan, Bastianelli is strong two-way middle, showing talent on both offense and in the blocking unit. An AAU All-American, Bastianelli led the Legacy Volleyball club to a perfect 13-0 record to capture the 2013 AAU 16 Open National Championship. She followed that performance by claiming first place at the 2014 Mizuno Sports Performance National Junior Classic in Chicago where she took home MVP honors. An Under Armour High School First-Team All-American, she is ranked as the nation's No. 10 high school recruit.
The 2011 National Freshman of the Year according to both ESPN and PrepVolleyball.com, Prince led the Avon Orioles to back-to-back Indiana State Championships in 2012 and 2013 as well as a runner-up finish in 2011. Despite struggling with injuries throughout her high school campaign, Prince eclipsed the Avon career kills record by more than 250 slams. An Under Armour High School Second-Team All-American, she is one of just two athletes in her class nationally to be rated a PrepVolleyball.com All-American four years in a row.
Illini Ranked Preseason No. 8
After going 26-8 with a repeat trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2014, expectations are again high for the 2015 Fighting Illini. Returning a majority of their starters and bringing in the top recruiting class in the nation, Illinois received the No. 8 ranking the AVCA Preseason Poll. The top-10 mark is the highest for the Illini since 2012, when the NCAA National Runner-Up gained a No. 7 preseason rank, the fourth-straight top-10 rank for the Illini under Hambly.
The No. 8 ranking marks the 11th time that Illinois has been ranked in the top 10 in the first AVCA poll of the season. Illinois' highest opening rank came on Sept. 6, 1988, when the AVCA placed the Illini at No. 2 on the first week of the season following their first-ever trip to the NCAA Semifinals.
Illinois appeared in the top 25 of the AVCA's first poll every season from 1986 to 1994, resurfaced at No. 14 in 1999 then at No. 19 in 2002 and 2004. The Illini have been ranked in the preseason top 25 in all-but-one season under Hambly, while receiving votes in 2013, with five top-10 projections in his seven seasons. The 2015 preseason ranking marks the Illini's 18th year beginning the schedule in the top 25.
Illini Classic History
The four-team Illini Classic began in 1984, featuring Missouri, Northern Illinois and Notre Dame. Mizzou earned the first-ever Illini Classic title, but the Illini rebounded to top New Mexico State in 1985 to win its first Classic crown. Since its inception, the Illini have won 22 of 29 outright Illini Classic titles and split a two-match series with Iowa State in 2012. The 2013 Illini Classic was the first tournament in which the participants did not all play the same amount of matches and thus no champion was crowned.
The Illini Classic has seen some top competition over the years, none bigger than the Illini's 2004 upset of No. 1 USC. The Orange and Blue rallied from down 2-1 to claim the victory in front of over 3,000 fans to end the Women of Troy's then-NCAA record 52-match winning streak.
Illinois raced through the 2014 Illini Classic to open last season, winning all nine sets with sweeps of Long Beach State, Southern Illinois and No. 20 North Carolina, who would go on to lose just one other regular season match all year.
Opening Night Success
The Illini have had tremendous success on opening night, going 31-10 all time in the first match of the season. Illinois has lost just one season opener since 1999, starting the new millennium with a 12-match winning streak from 2000-2011, before dropping the 2012 lid-lifter at Dayton. Illinois swept Long Beach State at the Illini Classic to open last season.
Illinois is even more successful in home openers, going 35-6 all time in the first home match of the year. The Illini have not lost a home opener in over two decades; after falling to No. 18 New Mexico on Sept. 9, 1994, the Orange and Blue have won their last 20 straight home openers. Since making the move to Huff Hall in 1990, Illinois is 24-1 in the first home match of the season.
10th Annual Stuff Huff Promotion Set for Aug. 28
On Friday night, the Fighting Illini will host Louisville in the 10th annual "Stuff Huff" match. The Illini are 8-1 since the promotion began in 2006, with the Illini taking their first-ever loss in the event in 2013 to No. 6 Washington, who would end the season with a trip to the Final Four. The Huskies were the highest-ranked team to appear in the Stuff Huff event, and the match drew a crowd of 3,538 fans, the second-straight Stuff Huff crowd of over 3,000 fans.
Stuff Huff is renowned for its vast crowds, as the Illini have averaged 2,806 fans per game, with 3,000+ crowds in 2006, 2012 and 2013. Prior to the match, Spike Squad and the DIA Marketing & Promotions staff will host an outdoor carnival for Illinois students in the grass lot just south of Huff Hall. The event will feature inflatables, free wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as serve as the I-Pride kickoff party, and will provide a chance for new students to meet other Illini fans before the first match of the year.
Year - Match - Attendance
2006 - Illinois 3, Illinois State 1 - 3,129
2007 - Illinois 3, Marquette 0 - 2,287
2008 - Illinois 3, North Carolina 0 - 1,989
2009 - #14 Illinois 3, Cincinnati 0 - 2,291
2010 - #6 Illinois 3, BYU 1 - 2,688
2011 - #7 Illinois 3, Tennessee 1 - 2,619
2012 - #19 Illinois 3, #15 Iowa State 0 - 3,770
2013 - #6 Washington 3, #14 Illinois 1 - 3,538
2014 - #11 Illinois 3, Long Beach State 0 - 2,942
Birks Named Preseason All-Big Ten
Illinois senior outside hitter Jocelynn Birks was unanimously named Preseason All-Big Ten, as voted on by the Big Ten coaches. A two-time All-Big Ten selection, Birks claimed her third-straight preseason honor.
Birks enters her third-straight season on the Preseason All-Big Ten list after earning AVCA All-America Second Team and a unanimous All-Big Ten selection last fall. On pace to become the Illini's all-time kills leader, she led the Big Ten in kills, kills per set, points, points per set and double-doubles as a junior while recording her third consecutive 500-kill performance.
Birks was one of just two Big Ten players to capture her third Preseason All-Big Ten nod, joining Penn State senior Megan Courtney.
Hambly Produces All-Americans
Illinois has 27 All-America honors among 17 players in school history. Nine of those players earned 15 honors with Kevin Hambly on staff. Three of the five First-Team All-Americans have come under Hambly (Laura DeBruler, Colleen Ward, Michelle Bartsch), while current staff members Hillary Haen and Johannah Bangert both earned All-America honors under Hambly as well. Senior Jocelynn Birks is a two-time All-American, following up a 2013 Third Team honor with a Second Team award in 2014.
