OHIO STATE & MARYLAND
Match 18: Ohio State	Friday, October 13, 2017 | 8 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. TV: BTN | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Match 19: Maryland	Saturday, October 14, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Video: FightingIllini.com | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Full Match Notes	Illinois | Ohio State | Maryland
Statistics	Illinois | Ohio State | Maryland
Series History	Ohio State: Illinois trails, 40-41 | Last: Illinois won,3-1, on 11/19/2016 | Streak: Won 1 | Results Maryland: Illinois leads, 5-0; Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0, on 11/18/2016; Streak: Won 5 | Results
Tickets	BUY HERE | Ohio State Family 4-Pack
Social Media	@IlliniVball  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube

PROMOTIONS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13

   » Hawaiian Night – Bring the family for a night of Hawaiian themed festivities!

   » Camper Reunion Night #1 – Fighting Illini Volleyball campers will have the chance to reunite for a night of fun!

   » Family 4-Pack – Bring the family out for a night of Illini volleyball! 4 tickets and $20 of concession vouchers for only $30 | GET TICKETS

   » Kids Court – All Fighting Illini fans 8th grade and younger are invited to serve volleyballs on the court following the match.

Giveaways

   » Orange Hawaiian shirts will be given away to students

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14

   » Annual Pink Match – Illinois Volleyball will recognize cancer awareness for local friends and family.

   » Free Admission with Football Ticket from Rutgers game – Entry with football ticket stubs limited based on availability.

Giveaways

   » Pink Fighting Illini shirts will be given away to the first 300 fans.

ILLINOIS RETURNS HOME TO HUFF HALL

After opening the season with five of six weeks on the road - including the last two to open Big Ten Conference play - the Fighting Illini volleyball team returns to Huff Hall for four-straight home matches. 

After opening the homestand last weekend with a split between then-No. 18 Purdue and Indiana, the Illini continue it this weekend as they host Ohio State on Hawaiian Night and Student-Athlete Night on Friday (October 13) in a BTN-televised contest at 8 p.m. CT. UI then welcomes in Maryland for its annual Pink Match on Saturday (October 14) at 7 p.m. 

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

It is a tale of two foes this weekend as the Illini and the Buckeyes face off for the 82nd time in the two programs' history, while Saturday's match with the Terps will be the sixth-ever meeting. 

The Illini trail in the all-time series with OSU by the slimmest of margins, 40-41, with Illinois taking a 3-1 win on November 19 of last season in the teams' last match-up.

The Illini have won all five previous meetings with Maryland, including taking both matches a season ago with a 3-2 win on October 2 in College Park, Maryland, as well as a straight-sets victory in Champaign on November 18. 

The Illini lead in the all-time series with Purdue, holding a 45-40 edge against the Boilermakers. Last season both teams earned five-set road victories against the other, while the last-three matches between the Illini and Boilermakers have gone five sets.

NEW RECORD FOR ILLINOISE NIGHT

For the fourth-straight season, the Fighting Illini volleyball team hosted its popular promotional event, IlliNOISE Night, last Friday night. With the entire Marching Illini Band in attendance, the Illini topped their previous record with a decibel reading of 116 dB between the first and second sets.

It has been said by coaches, opponents, fans and media members alike that Huff Hall has the loudest volleyball atmosphere in the country, and last weekend the Fighting Illini faithful proved it.

IlliNOISE Night History

ILLINI IN THE POLLS

In the most record NCAA volleyball RPI, the Fighting Illini came in at No. 22 after debuting at No. 24 in the season's first RPI on October 2.

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

ILLINI IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

The Illini continued their strong blocking game and rank sixth in the NCAA in blocks per set at a 3.09 clip as well as 11th in hitting percentage (.299) and 27th in total blocks (179).

Individually, junior Ali Bastianelli paces the nation with 1.85 blocks per set, ranks third with a .469 hitting percentage and is eighth with 102 total blocks.

Junior Jordyn Poulter also ranks 29th with a 11.03 assists per set average and is 95th with 640 total helpers, while junior Blayke Hranicka also sits 51st with a .378 attack percentage.

ILLINI FACING OFF AGAINST TOP FOES IN 2017

The Fighting Illini volleyball consistently plays a demanding schedule year in and year out, and 2017 is no different as Illinois has played the 21st-most difficult schedule this season.

This season, the Illini have taken on seven teams that appear in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll - including five in the top 10 - in No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 10 Michigan State, No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 16 Purdue, while also taking on four teams that are receiving votes in Western Kentucky, Michigan, Colorado and Missouri State. 

The Illini own the fourth-toughest schedule moving forward with future foes, while between past and future opposition, Illinois holds the seventh-toughest schedule in the NCAA.

ILLINI NEARING CAREER MARKS 

In their time in the Orange and Blue, senior Brandi Donnelly and juniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli have made a place for themselves in the Illini record books. Donnelly currently sits third in career digs with 1,827, just 94 off of Ashley Edinger's second place mark of 1,921. Jennifer Beltran holds the record with 2,220 digs in her four years.

Meanwhile, Poulter ranks eighth in career assists with 2,918 helpers after passing former Illini Annie Luhrsen earlier this season and is 660 helpers from equaling Betsy Eiserman (1999-02) for seventh place. Melissa Beitz ranks first in program history with 5,797 assists from 1996-99.

After entering the top 10 for career block assists earlier this season, Bastianelli is currently seventh with 431 block assists. Former teammate Katie Stadick sits just two stuffs away in sixth place, while former player and director of operations Johannah Bangert owns the program record with 613 block assists from 2007-10.

Bastianelli has also entered the top 10 for total career blocks this season and currently sits in eighth place with 470 blocks. She needs just one more to enter a tie for seventh with Erin Johnson at 471. Bangert also holds the career record for total blocks at 653. 

ILLINI SET HITTING PERCENTAGE RECORD AGAINST WKU

The Illini set a new single-match hitting percentage school record en route to a sweep of No. 24 Western Kentucky on Saturday as part of the Cardinal Classic. Swinging .652 as a team, the Illini led by a .917 hitting percentage from junior Ali Bastianelli.

Topping the previous school record of .635 set back on September 1, 1992 at Northwestern, the Illini were hitting on all cylinders on Saturday morning, finishing each set with an attack percentage north of .600, with a first-set mark of .708, a second-set clip of .632 and a third-set .609 percentage. The best single-match team hitting percentage during the rally-scoring era, which began in 2001, was a .483 performance against Murray State at Huff Hall on September 17, 2016.

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.