ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The Illini will wrap up the 2017 regular season slate this weekend, traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State in St. Johns Arena on Saturday (November 25) at 6 p.m. CT.
The series between the Illini and the Buckeyes is tie at 41-41, with Illinois winning the most recent match-up - a straight-sets victory earlier this season on October 13. Junior Ali Bastianelli and Cooney each totaled 11 kills on 27 attacks and only two errors for a .333 hitting percentage to pace the Illini offense, while the junior middle blocker led all players with five blocks on the night.
LAST TIME OUT
The Illinois volleyball team celebrated its 2017 Senior Night for libero Brandi Donnelly and manger Sam Panozzo in style with a dominating 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-12) sweep of Iowa in its home finale on Wednesday (November 22) night in Huff Hall.
Donnelly led all players with 17 digs in her final match at Huff Hall, while helping to hold the Hawkeyes to a .070 hitting percentage.
As a team, the Illini registered a .316 attack clip, with junior Ali Bastianelli leading the way with a match-high 13 kills on a .550 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks. Sophomore Jacqueline Quade joined her in double figured with 10 kills, while junior Blayke Hranicka added nine kills on a .692 attack clip and a match-high five stuffs.
Junior Jordyn Poulter directed the Illini offense with 37 assists, while also contributing nine digs, three blocks and two service aces in the win.
DONNELLY COLLECTS B1G DPOW ACCOLADES
Following another impressive weekend of play that included helping lead the Fighting Illini volleyball team to an upset win over No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday night, senior libero Brandi Donnelly was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday (November 20).
This is the third weekly honor Donnelly has received this season and second in the last three weeks after collecting accolades following her first week back following a month-long injury on November 6.
The Williamsville, Ill., native totaled 50 digs from her libero position for an exceptional 6.25 digs per set average, while also registering 14 assists and just one reception error in 35 opportunities. Behind Donnelly's play, the Illini defense held their opponents to just a .239 hitting percentage.
Donnelly opened the weekend with a match-high 18 digs and four assists against No. 12 Wisconsin, before turning in one of the best performances of her career in the win over Minnesota as she collected her first double-double of her career with career-highs of 32 digs – her first-ever 30 dig outing – and 10 assists.
BASTIANELLI ONE OF B1G'S TOP BLOCKERS
With 533 total blocks as of in her three seasons at Illinois, junior Ali Bastianelli is in the top 10 of active career leaders in the NCAA, ranking eighth overall and is the third-highest Big Ten player behind Briana Holman of Nebraska (606) and Penn State's Haleigh Washington of Penn State (539).
Bastianelli is also just one of five players in the Big Ten with at least 500 career blocks and 500 career kills.
ILLINI IN THE POLLS
In the most recent NCAA volleyball RPI, the Fighting Illini volleyball team held strong in the top 30 and sit at No. 28 in the newest rankings.
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 12-straight weeks after entering the rankings on September 4.
ILLINI IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Illini continued their strong blocking game and rank 13th in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in blocks per set at a 2.96 clip as well as 14th in total blocks (310.5) and 15th in hitting percentage (.281).
Individually, junior Ali Bastianelli ranks fourth in the nation with 1.62 blocks per set, seventh with 165 total blocks and is 31st with a .388 hitting percentage.
Junior Jordyn Poulter also ranks 36th with a 10.87 assists per set average and is 54th with 1,141 total helpers, while senior Brandi Donnelly sits 94th with 4.55 digs per set nationally.
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 this past weekend she moved into second place in the program's history for career digs. Donnelly currently owns 1,954 digs, with former great Jennifer Beltran (2010-13) holding the record with 2,220 digs in her four years.
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 5.29 digs per set.
In her four years, Donnelly has seen action in 439 of 441 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 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 eighth all-time with 3,419 helpers, with Betsy Eiserman (1999-02), who owns 3,578 assists in seventh 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 fifth with 533 stuffs and is just 15 blocks away from entering in a tie for fourth with Anna Dorn (2010-14), 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 488. Anna Dorn (2010-14) sits 42 block assists away in second place with 530, while Bangert also holds the career record for block assists at 613.
POULTER & QUADE DOUBLE UP
Together junior Jordyn Poulter and sophomore Jacqueline Quade own all but one of the Illini's 14 double-doubles this season, with the setter leading the way with 10. Quade owns three for her sophomore season, while senior Brandi Donnellu earned her first-career double-double in Saturday's win over then-No. 7 Minnesota.
In her three seasons in Champaign, Poulter has totaled 20 career double-doubles, while Quade has tallied four in her two years in the Orange and Blue.
POULTER CHASING PROGRAM'S 13TH TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Along with her 20 career double-doubles, junior Jordyn Poulter has come close to notching the program's 13th triple-double on multiple occasions, including coming within one kill of the feat on Saturday night against then-No. 7 Minnesota. Poulter came up just short as she totaled 50 assists, 17 digs and nine kills on a .750 hitting percentage.
She came within three blocks of the mark with 47 assists, 12 digs and seven blocks – all match-highs - in a win over Indiana on October 7.
She then turned in one of her best performances of the season against No. 7 Nebraska and was just two blocks shy with 52 assists, 14 digs and eight blocks in the match.
Poulter again flirted with history when the junior registered a career-high 11 kills on a .529 hitting percentage, 52 assists, five digs and three blocks at Michigan last Saturday (November 11).
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.
