University of Illinois
Stanford
Illini Volleyball Set to Host B1G/Pac-12 Challenge
September 7, 2017 | Volleyball
Illini welcome in No. 4 Stanford for Stuff Huff on Friday, Colorado on Saturday
| BIG TEN/PAC-12 CHALLENGE | |
|---|---|
| Match 7: #4 Stanford |
Friday, September 8, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats | Video: BTN Plus ($) |
| Match 8: Colorado |
Saturday, September 9, 2017 | 2:30 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats | Video: FightingIllini.com |
| #3 Penn State vs. Colorado | Friday, September 8, 2017 | 4:30 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Livestats | Video: FightingIllini.com |
| #4 Stanford vs. #3 Penn State | Saturday, September 9, 2017 | 5 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Livestats | Video: FightingIllini.com |
| Full Match Notes | Illinois | Stanford | Colorado | Penn State | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Illinois | Stanford | Colorado | Penn State |
| Series History | Stanford: Illinois trails, 0-8 | Last: Illinois lost, 2-3, on 9/3/2016 | Streak: Lost 8 | Results Colorado: Illinois leads, 4-3 | Last: Illinois lost, 2-3, on 9/4/2016 | Streak: Lost 1 | Results |
| Tickets | BUY HERE | Reserved Section is SOLD OUT for Illinois matches |
| Social Media | @IlliniVball  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube 
|
PROMOTIONS
STUFF HUFF | On Friday, September 8, the Fighting Illini will host defending NCAA champion Stanford in the 12th annual "Stuff Huff" match. Stuff Huff is renowned for its vast crowds, as the Illini have averaged over 2,800 fans per game, with 3,000+ crowds in 2006, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Hosted by the DIA Marketing & Promotions Staff and the Spike Squad, this season festivities will include a DJ, inflatables, 300 free Buffalo Wild Wings boneless wings and a fanny pack giveaway. Along with that, there will be a perfect serve contest or a chance to win $10,000 for UIUC students between the second and third sets and post-match autographs.
FANNY PACK GIVEAWAY | Illinois fanny packs will be given out to the first 300 students!
PERFECT SERVE CONTEST | The Perfect Serve contest will take place between the second and third sets during both Illini matches this weekend. Three students will be randomly selected through the Oskee Rewards App to have a chance to win $10,000.
POST-MATCH AUTOGRAPHS & KIDS COURT FRIDAY | There will be post-match autographs following the Illini's match with Stanford and kids eighth grade and younger are welcome to serve volleyballs and play on the court for 10 minutes following every Friday match!
FREE ADMISSION WITH FOOTBALL TICKET STUB | Fans with a Western Kentucky Football ticket stub will receive free admission to the Colorado match on Saturday. *Entry with football ticket stub based on availability.
BIG TEN/PAC-12 CHALLENGE
Illinois will host the prestigious Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge for the first time in its history this weekend, welcoming in No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Stanford and Colorado to Huff Hall on September 1-2.
Illinois holds a 1-5 all-time record in the Challenge, falling to UCLA (0-3) and Stanford (2-3) in the inuagural event in 2014, before spliting with Colorado (W, 3-0) and Stanford (L, 1-3) in 2015 and dropping both matches last season in five-set thrillers to the Buffs and Cardinals.
ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The Illinois volleyball team is set to face a pair of familiar opponents this weekend as No. 4 Stanford and Colorado make appearances on the Illini schedule for the fourth-straight season.
The Illini and the Cardinal will meet in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge for the fourth-consecutive year, while UI has faced the Buffs in back-to-back Challenges and in the Creighton Classic in 2014.
The Illini are 0-8 all-time against Stanford, with the Cardinal in the top 10 in the polls in all seven matchups since the AVCA rankings began. In last season's meeting, the Illini pushed the No. 9 Cardinal to the brink, before falling 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 12-25, 25-20, 12-15) in a five-set thriller. Junior Ali Bastianelli set a program record with 14 block assists in the match.
The Orange and Blue lead the all-time series with Colorado, 4-3, and had won three-straight against the Buffs until last season's intense fifth-set hearbreaker (17-25, 25-18, 15-25, 25-18, 17-19).
ILLINI IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Illini continued their strong blocking game in week two and rank first in the NCAA in blocks per set at a 3.79 clip as well as first in opponent hitting percentage (.077), while also ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.327) and 12th in total blocks (72).
Individually, junior Ali Bastianelli leads the nation with 2.26 blocks per set and is second with a .573 hitting percentage and sixth with 43 total blocks.
Junior Blayke Hranicka also ranks 35th with a .434 hitting percentage, while classmate Jordyn Poulter is 44th with 10.89 assists per set. Sophomore Jacqueline Quade's 4.71 points per set also sits at 49th in the nation.
ILLINI CONTINUE SUCCESS AT CARDINAL CLASSIC
Illinois continued its hot streak going as it swept its way through the Cardinal Classic last weekend in Louisville, Ky., going a perfect 9-0 in sets. Junior Jordyn Poulter was named Tournament MVP, while senior Brandi Donnelly and junior Ali Bastianelli received All-Tournament honors.
Poulter paced the Illini to a .336 hitting percentage on the weekend, including a new single-match school record (.652) against No. 24 Western Kentucky, while their opponents were held to a .109 clip. Averaging 13.9 kills per set, the Illini were led by sophomore Jacqueline Quade who tallied 34, while Bastianelli led the team with a .587 (30-3-46) hitting percentage. On defense, propelled by Bastianelli's 18 blocks, the Orange and Blue tallied 30 blocks to their opponent's six., while Donnelly paced the team with 41 digs for a 4.56 digs per set mark.
Illinois also totaled 19 service aces on the weekend - including a season-high eight against Louisville - while only surrending five total through the three matches.
Over the course of the weekend, the Illini also received significant contributions from two freshmen, Megan Cooney and Morgan O'Brien. Cooney received the start in all three matches for the Illini, registering eight kills and 11 blocks, while O'Brien served up five aces on the weekend, including a season-high three against the Cardinals.
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.
PRINCE SETS NEW CAREER HIGH IN KILLS
In a straight-sets win over No. 24 Western Kentucky, the Illini received a career-high performance from redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince, who registered 12 kills on 18 swings and only two errors for a .556 hitting percentage in the match. Prince's previous career-high came a season ago with 11 kills at Iowa on October 29, 2016.
ILLINI TAKE HOME BOBCAT CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP
It was an impressive start to the 2017 season as the Illini swept their competition at the Montana State Bobcat Classic in Bozeman, Mont., on August 25-26. The Illini started with a quick 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-12) win over Gonzaga, before facing slightly tougher competition from the host Bobcats in a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-9, 25-21) victory. UI then finished up the undefeated weekend by defeating Air Force in straight-sets (25-10, 25-20, 25-14) in the unofficial tournament championship.
Junior Ali Bastianelli was named the tournament MVP after totaling 27 kills on a .558 hitting percentage, 25 blocks and nine digs, while classmate Blayke Hranickaand sophomore Jacqueline Quade also garnered all-tournament honors for their efforts in the two-day event. Quade paced the Illini offense with 41kills on the weekend, to go along with 12 blocks and 11 digs, with Hranicka adding 20 kills and 13 blocks.
As a team, the Illini out-blocked their opponents, 42-9, while also holding the three teams to a combined .050 hitting percentage on the weekend.
TAMAS EARNS FIRST COLLEGIATE HEAD COACHING WIN
Along with the Fighting Illini opening the 2017 campaign with a win, first-year head coach Chris Tamas earned his first collegiate victory as a head coach on August 25. The Illini dominated Gonzaga en route to a straight-sets win in Shroyer Gym on the campus of Montana State to start the season.
BASTIANELLI TABBED B1G DEFENSIVE POW
Following an impressive start to the 2017 season, Fighting Illini volleyball junior Ali Bastianelli earned the year's first Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor, the league announced on August 28. After being named the Bobcat Classic Tournament MVP in the Illini's opening weekend tournament, she collects her third career conference defensive player of the week accolade after earning the honor once each of the past two seasons.
Her tournament highlights include:
- Posted nine kills on 11 swings and no errors for an .818 hitting percentage to go along with nine blocks, including two solo stuffs against Gonzaga.
- Notched a career-high 17 kills on 25 attacks and only two errors for a .600 hitting percentage as well as a match-high nine blocks against the tournament host Montana State.
- Led the Illini with seven blocks against Air Force.
QUADE, BASTIANELLI NOTCH CAREER MARKS
Sophomore Jacqueline Quade and Ali Bastianelli registered a pair of career performances in the Illini's win over Montana State on August 25. Quade led the Illini with a career-high 19 kills on 36 swings for a .389 hitting percentage, while also tying her career-high with five blocks. Bastianelli also turned in a career-high with 17 kills on 25 attacks and only two errors for a .600 hitting percentage to go along with a match-high nine stuffs.
POULTER POSTS SEASON'S FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Junior Jordyn Poulter registered the first Illini double-double of the season and her 11th of her career with 48 assists and a match-high 15 digs against Montana State on August 25, while setting the Illini offense to a .288 clip, including a .481 mark in the fourth set.
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.
BASTIANELLI, POULTER TABBED PRESEASON ALL-B1G
Illinois volleyball juniors Ali Bastianelli and Jordyn Poulter earned Preseason All-Big Ten honors as voted on by the Big Ten coaches, the conference announced on Tuesday (August 15). It was the second-straight season Poulter earned preseason all-conference accolades and the first such award for Bastianelli.
The duo had breakout seasons as sophomores, earning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-America honors, as well as AVCA All-Northeast Region Team and All-Big Ten accolades.
One of the premier blockers in the nation in 2016, Bastianelli finished the regular season as the NCAA and Big Ten Conference leader with 1.79 blocks per set and 201 total blocks on the year, while also pacing the league in conference matches with 1.79 stuffs per set and 129 total blocks. She also ranked 12th in the Big Ten and was second on the Illini with a .326 hitting percentage in overall action and was tied for 15th with 17 service aces in conference play. The Marysville, Mich., native started in all 31 matches for the Illini, totaling 197 kills and 30 digs and earned Billiken Invitational All-Tournament Team honors as well as FloVolleyball Player of the Week and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week accolades a season ago.
The leader of the Illini offense, Poulter averaged 10.63 assists per set to rank sixth in the Big Ten and 51st in the NCAA after totaling 1,190 assists on the season and leading the Illini to a .251 hitting percentage, which ranked 47th in the nation following the conclusion of regular season. She upped her game in league play and finished fifth with 10.89 assists per set in Big Ten matches. One of the most consistent players for the Illini, Poulter ranked second on the team with 112 blocks, was fifth with 166 digs and was efficient in the attack with 79 kills in 164 swings and only 22 errors for a .348 hitting percentage. She also garnered all-tournament accolades at the Illini Classic and the Nike Invitational and earned Big Ten Setter of the Week honors on Oct. 17.
