NCAA TOURNAMENT: FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
Match 30: First Round vs. Utah	Friday, December 6, 2019 | 5 p.m. CT | Smith Fieldhouse | Provo, Utah Video: BYUtv.org (FREE) | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
First Round: BYU vs. New Mexico State	Friday, December 6, 2019 | 8 p.m. CT | Smith Fieldhouse | Provo, Utah TV: BYUtv.org (FREE) | Livestats
Second Round	Saturday, December 7, 2019 | 8 p.m. CT | Smith Fieldhouse | Provo, Utah TV: BYUtv.org (FREE) | Radio: WDWS 1400 (if Illinois is playing) | Livestats (TBD)
Related Links	NCAA Championship Central | Interactive Bracket | Printable Bracket
Full Match Notes	Illinois | Utah | BYU | New Mexico State
Statistics	Illinois | Utah | BYU | New Mexico State
Series History	Utah: Illinois leads, 4-1 Last: Illinois lost 3-1 on 9/21/2002 Streak: Lost 1 | Results BYU: Illinois leads, 3-2 Last: Illinois won 3-0 on 8/26/2011 Streak: Won 3 | Results New Mexico State: Illinois leads, 5-0 Last: Illinois won 3-0 on 9/5/2009 Streak: Won 5 | Results
Tickets	Buy All-Session Tickets: BYUtickets.com Single-Session Tickets: On Sale Friday
Social Media	@IlliniVball  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube

ILLINI EARNS 2019 NCAA TOURNAMENT BID

The Illinois volleyball team received an at-large bid in the 2019 NCAA Division I Championship and will be making its 26th appearance in program history and the third-straight under head coach Chris Tamas as the Illini travel to Provo, Utah, on the campus of BYU to face Utah in the first round of the tournament.  

The Illini (16-13, 11-9 B1G) will face the Utes (22-9, 14-6 PAC-12) at 5 p.m. CT in the first match on Friday (December 6) in the Smith Fieldhouse, followed by host and No. 14 seed BYU (25-4, 16-2 WCC) taking on New Mexico State (27-3, 16-0 WAC) at 8 p.m. CT. The winner of each match will advance to the second round on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.  

Teams winning two matches this weekend will move on to regional play on December 13-14. The regional winners will advance to the National Semifinals and Championship Final on December 19 and 21 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The national semifinal matches will broadcast on ESPN and the championship match will broadcast on ESPN2.

The Big Ten led all conferences with seven teams selected from the league to compete in the championship tournament, with the seven selections marking the 27th time in as many years that at least six Big Ten teams have been selected to the tournament. Big Ten Champion Wisconsin earned the No. 4 overall seed, with No. 5 Nebraska, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 11 Penn State, No. 16 Purdue and Michigan joined the Illini in receiving at-large selections to the tournament.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The Illinois volleyball team has played against all three teams in this weekend's regional, with the Illini owning a 4-1 record against Utah  and are 2-0 in Provo, but fell in the last meeting in a 3-1 setback in 2002 in Salt Lake City. 

The Illini lead the all-time series with BYU, 3-2, and have won three-straight against the Cougars, including a 3-0 victory in the two teams' last meeting in 2011.

UI has won all five meetings with New Mexico State, with its previous meeting coming in a straight-sets win during the 2009 season.  

ILLINI IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Illinois is making its 26th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its 10th postseason appearance in the last 12 seasons. The Illini own a 44-25 (.638) all-time record in postseason play. The Illini have advanced to Regionals on eight occasions since 2008, including a run to the National Championship match in 2011.

The Illini are coming off an historic 2018 season that saw the Orange & Blue make the program's fourth appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals after earning the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Illinois opened its 2018 NCAA Tournament run at home with a 3-0 sweep of tournament newcomer Eastern Michigan, before punching their ticket to the NCAA Sweet 16 with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Louisville. Illinois then earned its fourth trip to the NCAA Final Four with a pair of wins over No. 14 seed Marquette, 3-0, and No. 6 seed Wisconsin, 3-1 in a raucous Huff Hall during the second weekend of the tournament. The Illini then suffered a five-set heartbreaker to defending national champion Nebraska in the NCAA national semifinal.

ILLINI QUARTET EARN ALL-BIG TEN CONFERENCE HONORS

Four members of the Illinois volleyball team collected Big Ten Conference postseason honors, the league announced on Wednesday (December 4). Senior Jacqueline Quade repeated as an All-Big Ten First-Team selection, with classmate Ashlyn Fleming also earning her second-straight All-Big Ten Second-Team accolade and redshirt-freshman Diana Brown named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Redshirt-senior Beth Prince was tabbed as Illinois' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.

ILLINI RECEIVING VOTES IN AVCA TOP-25 POLL

The Illinois volleyball team are receiving votes in the newest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 Poll after having been ranked for the first 14 weeks of the season. The Illini opened the season with a No. 6 preseason ranking, before moving up one spot for a season-high ranking of No. 5 the following week. 

Illinois is one of seven Big Ten schools ranked or receiving votes the AVCA Poll, including No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 6 Nebraska, No;. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Penn State, No. 14 Purdue and No. 22 Michigan. Along with their conference foes, the Illini have faced or potentially will  face four other opponents in the top-25, including No. 9 Washington, No. 13 BYU, No. 16 Marquette and No. 17 Utah.

ILLINI IN PROGRAM RECORD BOOK

Senior Jacqueline Quade is quickly moving up the Illinois volleyball record books, ranking fourth all-time in program history with 1,768 kills and is just six kills from moving into a tie for third place with Illinois Athletics Hall of the Famer Mary Eggers Tendler with 1,774 kills. Quade also ranks fourth with 4,665 attacks and is fifth with 1,990.5 points in her four-year career. 

With a .384 career hitting percentage in her two seasons as an Illini, senior Ashlyn Fleming ranks third all-time in program history, sitting behind Illinois Hall of Famer Mary Eggers (1985-88) with a .421 attack clip and Kristen Gleis (1992) with a .386 attack clip. Fleming has registered 488 kills with 119 errors on 961 swings in 65 matches played. 

Junior Morgan O'Brien recently moved into the top-10 in digs and is currently seventh with 1,191 digs in her three seasons. She also ranks fifth in program history with a 3.43 digs per set mark. 

Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown sits seventh with a 10.98 assists per set average in her first season on the court. 

HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS IN THIRD SEASON AT THE HELM OF ILLINI VOLLEYBALL

Chris Tamas is in his third season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2019 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.

In his first two seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas made an immediate impact on Illinois volleyball and currently owns an overall record of 71-28 (.717), including a 40-20 (.667) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference.

Illinois experienced one of its most successful seasons ever in 2018 under Tamas, who was named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year. The Illini made the program's fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals as the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament – riding a 17-match win streak into the Final Four - and ended the season ranked No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Poll. The team registered a 32-4 overall record and finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 17-3 mark, with the 32 victories ranking tied for fourth-most wins in school history.

ILLINI ADVANCE TO FOURTH-EVER NCAA FINAL FOUR IN HISTORIC 2018 SEASON

The Illini are coming off an historic 2018 season that saw the Orange & Blue make the program's fourth appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals after earning the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Illini ended the season with a 32-4 overall record – with the 32 wins ranking fourth-most in program history - and finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 17-3 mark.