ILLINOIS (2-10) vs. Maryland (4-10)
Date | Time	Friday, March 19 - 7 p.m. CT | Saturday, March 20 - 5 p.m. CT
Location	Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill.
Live Stream	BTNPlus.com (subscription needed)
Radio	WDWS 1400 | Listen
Live Stats	www.sidearmstats.com/illinois/wvball
Printable Notes	Illinois
Stats	Illinois | Maryland
Series History	Illinois leads, 9-0 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0, on 11/22/2019 | Streak Won 9 | Results
Shop	Online Store
Social Media	@IlliniVBall  | #Illini | @IlliniVBall  | Facebook | YouTube

FIRST SERVE | WEEK NINE

The Illinois volleyball team returns to Huff Hall to open its final four-match homestand of the season this weekend as the Illini host Maryland in a two-match series on March 19-20. 

The Illini and Terps will open the weekend with a 7 p.m. CT match on Friday night, before a 5 p.m. CT contest on Saturday, with both matches streaming on Big Ten Network+ (subscription needed). Fans can also listen to both matches on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign and online at wdws.com.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The Illini own a 9-0 record in the all-time series with Maryland, with five of those wins coming in Huff Hall.

The Illini earned a 3-0 sweep in College Park, Md., in the lone meeting of the 2019 season, with senior Megan Cooney leading all returning players with eight kills in the win.

Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown posted a double-double – her team-leading 13th of the season – with 37 assists and a match-high 11 digs for the Illini. Junior Taylor Kuper also turned in a match-high three aces on the night, with classmate Mica Allison and sophomore Kennedy Collins each notching three blocks in the win. 

MINNESOTA RECAP

The Illinois volleyball teamed traveled north to take on another top-five team in No. 5 Minnesota over the past weekend, falling in both matches with a five-set battle (20-25, 25-15, 25-20, 20-25, 12-15) on Friday (March 12), before suffering a 3-0 (21-25, 23-25, 13-25) setback on Saturday (March 13). 

It was a complete team effort as the Illini fell just short in their upset bid against the Gophers on Friday night in Maturi Pavilion.

Three Illini reached double digit kills – and hit new career highs in the process – as senior Megan Cooney led all players with 21 kills to go along with 11 digs and four blocks for her third-career double-double, while freshman Raina Terry turned in her third-career double-double with 20 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Kennedy Collins added a career-high 14 kills on a .444 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks.

Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown had a standout night as she recorded her 19th double-double and team-leading fifth of the season with 53 assists and tied career-highs with 17 digs and five blocks.

Defensively, the Illini totaled 90 digs, with junior Taylor Kuper leading the way with a career-high 29 digs. Also turning in a career-high was sophomore Alyssa Eske, who posted 14 digs.

WEEKEND STANDOUTS

Sophomore Kennedy Collins had a strong weekend against the Gophers, totalling 18 kills on a .366 hitting percentage to go aling with a team-high eight blocks. 

Redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic got the start in both matches, registering 16 kills, four blocks  and four digs on the weekend.

Junior Taylor Kuper totaled 40 digs for a 5.00 digs per set mark and added five aces in the two matches. 

Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown had a strong all-around game with 79 assists (9.88 assist per set) and had the second-most digs with 28 (3.50 digs per set) and blocks with seven. 

TERRY TEARING IT UP

A regular in the lineup all season, freshman Raina Terry has turned her play on the court up another level and has registered seven-straight double-digit kill outings as well as posting double-doubles in four of her last six matches. 

In her last six matches, Terry has totaled a team-leading 89 kills for a 3.87 kills per set average on a .260 hitting percentage, while also adding the third-most digs on the team with 53 (2.30 digs per set) and the second-most aces with 10. She has also notched four blocks in that span.

Terry also posted career-highs of 20 kills at No. 5 Minnesota on Friday and 13 digs and three aces in a five-set setback to now-No. 9 ranked Ohio State on Feb. 20. 

ILLINI IN NCAA & B1G RANKINGS

• Illinois is 24th the nation and leads the Big Ten in aces per set (1.87).
• Illinois ranks 39th in the nation and paces the conference in service aces (88).
• Illinois is sixth in the Big Ten with 13.43 digs per set. 
• Junior Taylor Kuper is 10th in the NCAA and leads the Big Ten in aces (29).
• Kuper also ranks 12th in the nation and first in the Big Ten in aces per set (0.62).
• Kuper leads the conference in digs per set (4.55).
• Sophomore Rylee Hinton ranks 52nd in the nation and is seventh in the league with 1.24 blocks per set and is sixth in the Big Ten with 56 total blocks. 
• Senior Megan Cooney is eighth in the Big Ten with 4.10 points per set and is sixth in the league with 192.5 total points. 
• Cooney is also eighth in the conference with 3.53 kills per set.
• Freshman Raina Terry ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 16 service aces and is seventh with 0.36 aces per set.

THE BIG TEN GAUNTLET

After opening the 2020-21 season with a pair of wins at Iowa on Jan. 22-23, Illinois has faced  five of the top six teams in the Big Ten Conference, with all five teams sitting in the top 12 of this week's AVCA Volleyball Top 25 Poll: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 12 Penn State.

The five teams have also combined for a 52-9 record - with five losses coming from No. 12 Penn State.

The Illini are also one of only two teams to take a set of No. 1 Wisconsin and were the first team to do so, winning the third set in its Saturday match against the Badgers on Jan. 30. 

THE 2020-21 VOLLEYBALL SEASON

The 2020-21 season marks the 47th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,007-582-7 (.633) and a mark of 451-288 (.610) in the Big Ten. 

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 

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.
• Jan. 29 » Illinois vs. Wisconsin - 431 days after the Illini played their last volleyball match in Huff Hall for the 2019 season, earning a 3-1 win over Northwestern on November 27, 2019. 

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 four 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.

» Saturday, January 30 vs. Wisconsin (11 a.m. CT)
» Friday, February 5 at Penn State (8 p.m. CT)
» Friday, March 5 vs. Nebraska (8 p.m. CT)
» Saturday, March 27 vs. Indiana (5 p.m. CT)

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 his first four seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas has made an immediate impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 73-39 (.652), including a 42-30 (.583) 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.