FIRST SERVE | WEEK EIGHT
The Illinois volleyball team returns to action in Huff Hall to host Iowa in a midweek match on Wednesday (October 13) at 7 p.m. CT, before traveling to Lincoln, Neb., to face No. 9 Nebraska on Saturday (Oct. 16) at 6 p.m. CT.
Both matches will be streamed on B1G+ ($) as well as broadcasted on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign and streamed on FightingIllini.com.
PROMOTIONS | "HOE-DOWN AT HUFF HALL"
Wednesday night will be Hoe-Down in Huff Hall! The first 500 fans and 250 students will receive a special Illinois bandana. The night will feature country music and country dancing, and even a few hay bales! Make sure to wear your best country outfit.
ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The Illini lead the series with the Hawkeyes, 67-14 and have won eight-straight, including a conference-opening five-set victory on September 22 in Iowa City.
Graduate student Megan Cooney paced the Illini with her eighth-career double-double with a season-high-tying 17 kills on a .317 hitting percentage to go along with 11 digs, five blocks and three aces. Junior Jessica Nunge turned in a career-high 14 kills, a season-high eight digs, three aces and two blocks, while sophomore Raina Terry joined the duo in double figures with 10 kills, while adding eight digs and four blocks.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown continued her strong play with her 29th career double-double and fifth of the season with 38 assists and a career-high 20 digs, while directing the Illini to a .221 team attack clip.
Senior Taylor Kuper came within one assist of her second-career double-double with 28 digs, nine assists and two aces, with freshman Caroline Barnes reaching double figures for the first time with a career-high 10 digs on the night.
As a team, the Illini outblocked the Hawkeyes, 11.0 to 4.0, with junior Kyla Swanson posting a match-high nine blocks.
The Illini hold a 33-6 advantage in Huff Hall, host of this Wednesday's match.
ILLINI NO. 32 IN SECOND NCAA RPI RANKING
The NCAA released its second RPI of the season on Monday (Oct. 12), with Illinois coming in at No. 32 in the ranking.
The Illini have or will face nine opponents that sit in the top 25, with 11 foes ranking in the top 50.
ILLINI DROP 3-1 DECISION WITH NO. 4 WISCONSIN
The Illinois volleyball team won the opening set of the match, before falling 3-1 (27-25, 20-25, 9-25, 15-25) to No. 4 Wisconsin on Saturday (Oct. 9) night at the UW Field House.
Sophomore Raina Terry paced the Illini with her 10th career double-double and fourth of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs to go along with three blocks and a pair of aces, while junior Jessica Nunge adding 10 kills on the night.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown registered her 32nd career double-double and her team-leading eight of the season with 22 assists, 11 digs and four blocks.
Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper turned in a team-high 12 digs, while graduate student Megan Cooney notched 10 digs in the match. As a team, the Illini was just one block off their season-high with 12 stuffs against the Badgers, with junior Kennedy Collins leading the way with six blocks and classmate Kyla Swanson adding five on the night.
WEEK SEVEN STANDOUTS
Sophomore Raina Terry totaled a team-high 26 kills, while adding 18 digs, four blocks and four service aces.
Senior Taylor Kuper turned in 38 digs (4.22 digs per set), while junior Kennedy Collins led the Illini at the net with nine blocks.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown handed out 72 assists to go along with 24 digs and seven blocks.
ILLINI IN NCAA & B1G RANKINGS
• Illinois is 10th the nation and leads the Big Ten in total service aces (132).
• Illinois ranks 16th in the nation and leads the Big Ten in service aces per set (1.94).
• Illinois is 56th in the NCAA and fifth in the Big Ten with 151.0 total blocks.
• Illinois is 95th in the NCAA in opponent hitting percentage (.185).
• Sophomore Raina Terry is 16th in the NCAA and leads the Big Ten with 31 total aces and is 42nd nationally and third in the conference with 0.46 aces per set.
• Senior Taylor Kuper ranks 29th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in aces (28) and is 80th in the nation and fifth in the league in aces per set (0.41).
• Kuper ranks 93rd in the NCAA and fourth the conference in digs per set (4.43) and is 36th in the nation and tops in the Big Ten with 301 digs on the season.
• Along with Kuper and Terry, the Illini boast four players in the top six in the conference for service aces, with junior Jessica Nunge ranking seventh (24) and graduate student Megan Cooney sitting in eighth (23).
• Redshirt-junior Diana Brown ranks 21st in the NCAA and leads the conference with 671 total assists, while also sitting 72nd nationally and ninth in the Big Ten with 9.87 assists per set.
KUPER HITS 1,000 CAREER DIGS, CLOSING IN ON ACES RECORD
A constant in the Illini lineup through her four years at Illinois, senior Taylor Kuper reached a career milestone in the Missouri match on Sept. 17 as she collected a match-high 18 digs, with her 14th dig of the match marking her 1,000 career dig. Kuper becomes the 16th Illini to reach that mark and with her 26 digs against No. 6 Purdue on Wednesday night, moved into the top 10 in program history with 1,145 career digs.
The Lenexa, Kansas native also owns 149 career service aces and moved into fourth place in program history with two aces in the win over Iowa on September 22. Illini Hall of Famer Mary Eggers owns the all-time record with 180 aces from 1985-88, with Laura Bush (1987-90) sitting in second with 176 and Disa Johnson (1984-87) in third with 154.
COONEY'S CAREER MARKS
Graduate student Megan Cooney has been a stalwart in the Illini lineup since she has been a freshman - playing in 131 of 135 in her five years. She has seen action in 498 sets, ranking her fourth all-time in program history, just 18 sets behind the program record established by Mary Eggers with 516 sets played from 1985-88.
After reaching the 1,000 kills mark a season ago on the road at Penn State, she also recently moved over 1,300 kills, 400 digs and 300 blocks in her Illini career and is closing in on 1,400 kills and 500 digs. Heading into this week's matches, Cooney currently sits at 1,335 kills, 425 digs and 311 blocks in her career.
HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS IN FIFTH SEASON AT THE HELM
Chris Tamas is in his fifth season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2021 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.
In his five seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas has made an immediate impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 89-46 (.659), including a 50-34 (.595) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference, as well as three 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.
BARTSCH-HACKLEY INDUCTED TO ILLINOIS ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020
Former Illini great Michelle Bartsch-Hackley was one of 15 former Illini greats that were named to the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2020. The class includes athletes and coaches from nine different sports and covers athletes from 1901 through 2013.
Bartsch-Hackley was one of the most well-rounded stars in Fighting Illini volleyball history. Bartsch-Hackley earned AVCA Third-Team All-America honors in 2010 and 2011 and Honorable Mention recognition in 2009 and was also selected to the Volleyball Magazine All-America First-Team in 2011. She was named First-Team All-Region and All-Big Ten in 2010 and 2011, was named the AVCA Mideast Region Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year and placed on the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2008, and was honorable-mention all-conference in 2009.
has been a U.S. National Team member since 2016 and is currently playing professionally in Istanbul. She helped lead Illinois to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen from 2008-10 and to the national championship match in 2011.Bartsch-Hackley
