University of Illinois
Iowa
Illini Volleyball Set to Open 2020-21 Season at Iowa
January 21, 2021 | Volleyball
News
| ILLINOIS (0-0) at Iowa (0-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date | Time | Friday, Jan. 22 - 3:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, Jan. 23 - 12 p.m. CT |
| Location | Iowa City, Iowa | Carver-Hawkeye Arena |
| Live Stream | BTNPlus.com |
| Radio | WDWS 1400 | Listen |
| Live Stats | iowa.statbroadcast.com |
| Printable Notes | Illinois | Iowa |
| Stats | Illinois | Iowa |
| Series History | Illinois leads, 64-14 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0, on 11/6/2019 | Streak Won 5 | Results |
| Shop | Online Store |
| Social Media | @IlliniVBall  | #Illini | @IlliniVBall  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
WELCOME TO THE 2020-21 VOLLEYBALL SEASON
The Illinois volleyball opens its 2020-21 season on the road in Iowa City, Iowa, with a two-match series against Iowa. The 2020-21 season marks the 47th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,005-572-7 (.637) and a mark of 449-278 (.618) in the Big Ten.
The Illini and the Hawkeyes kick things off with a 3:30 p.m. CT match on Friday, Jan. 22, followed by a 12 p.m. CT contest on Saturday, Jan. 23. Both matches will be played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with live streaming on Big Ten Network+ (subscription needed) and on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign.
The Big Ten Conference will play a league-only schedule for the 2020-21 spring season that will run 11 weeks with two matches each week against the same opponent for a total of 22 regular-season contests. Each school wih have five two-match home series, five two-match road series and one split week with its travel partner. There will be no regular season non-conference matches and the Illini will not face Michigan or Rutgers during the season.
PANDEMIC TIMELINE
• March 13 » Big Ten suspends all athletic activities.
• June 29 » Members of the Illinois team begin returning to campus for voluntary workouts.
• July 9 » Big Ten announces conference-only schedules for fall sports.
• Aug. 7 » Illinois begins volleyball practice.
• Aug. 11 » Big Ten presidents and chancellors postpone all fall sports.
• Sept. 22 » NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved plan to hold 2020 fall championships in spring of 2021 and announces first competition date for volleyball as Jan. 22.
• Dec. 30 » Big Ten announces the 2020-21 volleyball schedule.
• Jan. 22 » Illinois at Iowa - 413 days after the Illini played in its last match in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Utah on December, 6, 2019.
ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The Illini lead the series with the Hawkeyes, 64-14 and have won five-straight, including sweeping both matches in 2019. The Illini hold a 27-8 advantage in Iowa City, host of this weekend's matches.
In the first meeting of the 2019 season, the then-No. 20 Illini earned its first sweep of the season as the Illini defeated Iowa, 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) on September 28 in Huff Hall. Former Illini Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini with a match-high 14 kills, while then-senior Ashlyn Fleming and redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic each notched nine kills, with Vrankovic registering a .444 attack clip and Fleming leading the Illini block attack with five stuffs. Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown had a strong showing on the night, passing out 38 assists en route to leading the Illini to a .303 team hitting percentage to go along with eight digs and six kills on a .385 clip.
In the second match against the Hawkeyes in 2019, it was another 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-15) victory over Iowa on November 6 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Illini were paced by senior Megan Cooney with a match-high 17 kills on a season-high .667 hitting percentage after committing just one error in 24 swings. Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown led the offense to a .323 team hitting percentage after passing out 40 assists to go along with a pair of blocks. Junior Taylor Kuper also turned in 10 digs to go along with a career-high tying five aces.
ROSTER RUNDOWN
The Illini return 12 members from the 2019 squad, including All-Big Ten Freshman Team honoree Diana Brown, senior Megan Cooney and defensive specialist Taylor Kuper.
Seniors Kylie Bruder and Emily Hollowell, junior Mica Allison, redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic and sophomores Kennedy Collins, Rylee Hinton, Kyla Swanson and Alyssa Eske complete the returning roster.
Redshirt-freshman Ellie Holzman - who was with the Illini in 2019, but redshirted the season - will join three other freshmen Maddie Whittington, Raina Terry and Sophie Gregus for the 2020-21 campaign.
BIG TEN NETWORK RELEASES VOLLEYBALL BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Big Ten Network announced its 2020-21 volleyball broadcast schedule on January 19, with Illinois appearing nationally on the network for five matches this spring.
All matches televised on Big Ten Network will also be streamed on FoxSports.com and the FoxSports app. All remaining home matches will be streamed on BTNPlus.com (subscription necessary), with remaining road matches announced at a later date.
» Friday, February 5 at Penn State (8 p.m. CT)
» Saturday, February 6 at Penn State (5:30 p.m. CT)
» Tuesday, February 9 vs. Northwestern (7 p.m. CT)
» Friday, March 5 vs. Nebraska (TBD)
» Friday, March 26 vs. Indiana (TBD)
2019 IN REVIEW
Illinois advanced to its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Chris Tamas in 2019, wrapping up the year with a 16-14 overall record and a seventh place finish in the Big Ten Conference with a 11-9 mark.
The Illini made its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, falling to Utah in a hard-fought five-set battle (23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 23-25, 10-15) in Smith Fieldhouse on the campus of BYU on December 6, 2019.
Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree Diana Brown returns for her second season as the Illini setter after she started all 30 matches on the season, playing in all 118 sets - only one of three players to do both on the team. Brown totaled 1,294 assists for a 10.97 assists per set mark to rank fourth in the Big Ten while leading the Illini to a .231 team hitting percentage.
She also ranked second on the team with 275 digs and third on the team with 59 blocks, while adding 55 kills and 18 service aces.
Senior outside hitter Megan Cooney also returns after ranking second on the team with 347 kills on a .212 hitting percentage, to go along with 55.0 total blocks, including ranking second on the team with nine solo blocks, and also adding 50 digs.
Another offensive thread Brown will look to go to is sophomore Kennedy Collins, who ranked fourth on the team with 129 kills on a .235 attack clip and was second on the roster with 80 total blocks, while also adding 17 digs in her rookie campaign in 2019.
Junior Taylor Kuper looks to lead the Illini defensively after playing in all 30 matches in 2019 and ranking fourth on the team with 249 digs and second on the roster with 37 service aces, while adding 27 assists.
HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS STARTS FOURTH SEASON AT THE HELM
Chris Tamas is entering his fourth season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2020-21 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.
In just three seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas has made an immediate impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 71-29 (.710), including a 40-20 (.667) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference, as well as three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
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.
