WEEK 10: ILLINOIS (14-7, 6-4 B1G) at RUTGERS (8-13, 0-10 B1G) // AT NO. 13 PENN STATE (14-6, 7-3)
Match 22: Rutgers	Friday, Oct. 29 // 5:30 p.m. CT // Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) // Piscataway, N.J.
Match 23: #13 Penn State	Saturday, Oct. 30 // 3 p.m. // Rec Hall // University Park, Pa.
TV (Friday Only)	Big Ten Network // Fox Sports App
Live Streaming (Saturday Only)	B1G+ // Watch
Radio	WDWS 1400 // Listen
Live Stats	Rutgers // Penn State
Tickets	Penn State
Printable Notes	Illinois | Rutgers
Stats	Illinois | Rutgers // Penn State
Series History	Rutgers: Illinois leads, 11-1 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0, on 11/16/2019 | Streak: Won 11 | Results  Penn State: Illinois trails, 11-49 | Last Match: Illinois lost, 2-3, on 2/6/2021 | Streak: Lost 4 | Results
Shop	Online Store
Social Media	@IlliniVBall  | #Illini | @IlliniVBall  | Facebook | YouTube

FIRST SERVE | WEEK 10

The Illinois volleyball team next heads east for a two-match weekend, first traveling to Piscataway, N.J., to take on Rutgers on Friday (Oct. 29) at 5:30 p.m. CT, before facing No. 14 Penn State at 3 p.m. CT in University Park, Pa., on Saturday (Oct. 30). 

Friday's match will be televised on Big Ten Network, with Saturday's match streamed on B1G+ ($), with both contests broadcasted on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign and streamed on FightingIllini.com.

The 2021 season marks the 48th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,026-590-7 (.634) and a mark of 462-293 (.612) in the Big Ten. 

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The Illini will face this weekend's opponents only once this season, with no home matches against Rutgers or Penn State on the schedule in 2021. 

The Illini hold an all-time advantage of 11-1 against the Scarlet Knights, having won 11-straight after dropping their first-ever meeting in 1981. The Illini are 5-0 all-time on the road against RU and took a 3-0 win in Champaign in their last meeting duing the 2019 season. 

Illinois trails in the all-time series with the Nittany Lions, 11-49 and are 3-27 in Rec Hall. The Illini dropped both matches against PSU in the spring, pushing the Nittany Lions to five sets in the weekend's first match on Feb. 5, before falling 3-1 on Feb. 6. 

Graduate student Megan Cooney had a huge weekend in State College in the sping, totaling a team-high 36 kills on a .200 attack clip, while adding 17 digs and four blocks. 

Sophomore Raina Terry also had a strong showing with 21 kills on a .226 hitting percentage to go along with 12 digs, four blocks and six aces. 

Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper posted 29 digs and junior Rylee Hinton led with 10 blocks, with classmate Kennedy Collins adding seven stuffs. 

STRONG TEAM EFFORT LEADS UI PAST MICHIGAN

Behind a full team effort, the Illinois volleyball team earned their third win in the last four matches with a 3-1 (26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24) victory over Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 23) afternoon in Huff Hall.

Graduate student Megan Cooney registered her fourth-career 20-kill match with a match-high 20 on a .425 hitting percentage, while adding 10 digs for her 12th-career double-double. Sophomore Raina Terry also notched a double-double – her 11th of her career – with 13 kills and 10 digs to go along with four blocks and a pair of aces. 

Junior Kennedy Collins had a monster game as the Zion, Ill., native turned in eight kills on a .421 attack clip, while leading the block attack with six stuffs as well as serving up a career-high four aces against the Wolverines.

Redshirt-junior Diana Brown directed the Illini offense with 38 assists to go along with 12 digs and five blocks for her 34th-career double-double and her team-leading 10th of the season.

Senior Taylor Kuper led the Illini defense with a team-high 17 digs, while also notching nine assists in the win, with freshman Caroline Barnes earned her third-career double-digit dig outing with 10.

As a team, the Illini outblocked their foe for the fifth-straight match, 10.5 to nine, holding the Wolverines to a .185 hitting percentage.

ILLINI NO. 31 IN NCAA RPI RANKING

The NCAA released its third RPI of the season on Monday (Oct. 24), with Illinois coming in at No. 31  in the ranking. 

The Illini have or will face eight opponents that sit in the top 25, with 10 foes ranking in the top 50. 

WEEK NINE STANDOUTS

Graduated student Megan Cooney totaled 25 kills on a .382 hitting percentage to go along with 21 digs for a 2.63 digs per set and six blocks. 

Sophomore Raina Terry again led the Illini with a team-high 34 kills in last week's two matches, while adding 17 digs and six blocks. 

Junior Kennedy Collins paced the Illini with 11 blocks for a 1.63 blocks per set average to help hold UI's opponents to a .201 team hitting percentage. She added 15 kills on a .438 attack clip, six digs and five service aces. 

Redshirt-junior Diana Brown totaled 79 assists for a 9.88 assists per set mark en route to directing the Illini to a .269 team attack clip in the two matches. She added 16 digs (2.00 digs per set), six blocks and a pair of service aces. 

Junior Kyla Swanson has continued her solid play and contributed 11 kills on a .474 hitting percentage to go along with 10 blocks. 

Senior Taylor Kuper notched a team-high 26 digs for a 3.25 digs per set, with the Illini outblocking their opponents, 23.5 to 13, as UI held their foes to a .201 hitting percentage. 

CONSISTENT COONEY HAS CAREER SETS MARK IN HER SIGHTS

Graduate student Megan Cooney has been a stalwart in the Illini lineup since she has been a freshman - playing in 135 of 139 in her five years. 

She has seen action in 512 sets, just four sets away from equaling Mary Eggers' program record of 516 sets played from 1985-88, which Cooney will surpass during this weekend's matches and become the program leader for career sets played at Illinois. 

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 weekend's match, Cooney currently sits at 1,374 kills, 461 digs and 321 blocks in her career. 

STRONG ILLINI BLOCK IN BIG TEN PLAY

Since the start of Big Ten play, Illinois has outblocked its opponents in all but two matches and are currently on a five-match streak in recording more stuffs then the opposing team. 

The Illini rank fifth in conference action with 2.55 blocks per set and have totaled the third most blocks in league action (107). 

Individually, the Illini have two players in the top six in the conference during league play, with junior Kyla Swanson ranking fourth with 1.21 blocks per set and classmate Kennedy Collins tied for sixth with 1.17 blocks per set. 

ILLINI IN NCAA & B1G RANKINGS

• Illinois is 10th the nation and leads the Big Ten in total service aces (158).

• Illinois ranks 17th in the nation and leads the Big Ten in service aces per set (1.93).

• Illinois is 42nd in the NCAA in team total blocks (193.5). 

• Illinois is 69th in the NCAA in blocks per set (2.36). 

• Illinois is 79th in the NCAA in team kills (1,045). 

• Illinois is 90th in the NCAA in opponent hitting percentage (.187). 

• Sophomore Raina Terry is 23rd in the NCAA and is second in the Big Ten with 35 total aces and is 49th nationally and fourth in the conference with 0.43 aces per set.

• Senior Taylor Kuper ranks 35th in the NCAA and third in the Big Ten in aces (32) and is 94th in the nation and sixth in the Big Ten with 0.39 aces per set. 

• Along with Kuper and Terry, the Illini boast four players in the top eight in the conference for service aces, with graduate student Megan Cooney and junior Jessica Nunge ranking tied for seventh (27).

• Kuper ranks sixth the conference in digs per set (4.27) and is 63rd in the nation and second in the Big Ten with 350 digs on the season.

• Terry also ranks 99th in the NCAA and is fifth in the conference with 317.0 total points on the season and is 81st nationally and sits fourth in the Big Ten with 794 attacks on the season. 

• Redshirt-junior Diana Brown ranks 30th in the NCAA and leads the conference with 808 total assists, while also sitting 79th nationally and eighth in the Big Ten with 9.85 assists per set. 

• Junior Kyla Swanson ranks 93rd in the NCAA and 12th in the Big Ten with 1.14 blocks per set. 

• Junior Kennedy Collins ranks 50th in the NCAA and fourth in the Big Ten with 91.0 total blocks. 

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 is currently in eighth place in program history with 1,194  career digs. 

The Lenexa, Kansas native also owns 153 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) just in front of Kuper in third with 154. 

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 92-47 (.662), including a 53-35 (.602) 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. 

Bartsch-Hackley 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.