ILLINOIS (5-3) at Redbird Classic // Sept. 17-18 // Redbird Arena // Normal, Ill.
Match 9: Missouri (2-8)	Friday, Sept. 17 // 12 p.m. CT // WDWS 1400 | Listen Live // Live Stats
Match 10: Illinois State (3-6)	Friday, Sept. 17 // 7 p.m. CT // ESPN+ | Live Video // Listen Live // Live Stats
Match 11: North Texas (6-3)	Saturday, Sept. 18 | 11 a.m. CT // WDWS 1400 | Listen Live // Live Stats
Tickets	Buy Here
Printable Notes	Illinois | Illinois State
Stats	Illinois | Missouri | Illinois State | North Texas
Series History	Missouri: Illinois leads, 6-1-1 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-1, on 11/30/2001 | Streak: Won 3 | Results  Illinois State: Illinois trails, 27-30 | Last Match: Illinois lost, 1-3, on 9/13/2019 | Streak: Lost 1 | Results North Texas: Illinois trails, 0-1 | Last Match: Illinois lost, 1-2, on 10/10/1980 | Streak: Lost 1 | Results
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Social Media	@IlliniVBall  | #Illini | @IlliniVBall  | Facebook | YouTube

FIRST SERVE | REDBIRD CLASSIC

The Illinois volleyball team is set to wrap up its nonconference schedule this weekend with a short drive to Normal, Ill., for the Redbird Classic, hosted by Illinois State in Redbird Arena on Sept. 17-18. 

The Illini starts the weekend off with a 12 p.m. CT with Braggin' Rights rival Missouri, before taking on the host Redbirds later that night at 7 p.m. CT. Illinois then finishes the tournament off on Saturday, taking on North Texas at 11 a.m. CT.

Only Friday night's meeting with Illinois State will have video, with live streaming of the match available on subscription-based ESPN+.  

Both day matches will be on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign and streamed on FightingIllini.com, with Friday night's contest an internet-only stream on FightingIllini.com.

The 2020-21 season marks the 48th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,017-586-7 (.634) and a mark of 456-289 (.612) in the Big Ten. 

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The Illini will take on a pair of regional rivals this weekend as well as a relatively new opponent this weekend in Normal. 

It has 20 years since the last time Missouri and Illinois met on the volleyball court, with the Illini leading the series, 6-1-1, with the last meeting coming in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as UI came out victorious, 3-1, in Huff Hall. 

In a much more familiar foe, the Illini trail in the all-time series with Illinois State, 27-30 and last dropped a 3-1 decision in 2019's version of the Redbird Classic - breaking a 10-match win streak against ISU. 

Illinois and North Texas have met just once prior to this season, a 2-1 setback in 1980 in Houston, when UNT was still named North Texas State.

BLUEJAY INVITATIONAL RECAP, ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM & WEEKEND STANDOUTS

Illinois finished second at the Bluejay Invitational, recording a 2-1 mark in Omaha, Neb., over the past weekend. The Illini opened the invitational with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 18-25, 25-11) victory over Omaha on Friday morning, before needing just over 80 minutes to dispatch SMU in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-18) sweep in its second match of th day. 

The Illini then came up just short in forcing a decisive fifth set in a 3-1 (18-25, 16-25, 27-25, 31-33) setback to No. 19 Creighton in its final match at the Bluejay Invitational.

Sophomore Raina Terry paced the Illini offense wih 44 kills on a .255 hitting percentage, while also adding 24 digs, three blocks and one service ace. 

Terry kicked off her weekend with a season-high 17 kills on a .300 hitting percentage against Omaha, before turning in a match-high 14 kills on a career-high .591 hitting percentage after just one error in 22 swings vs. SMU. She then posted her eighth-career double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs at No. 19 Creighton. 

Graduate student Megan Cooney also had a standout weekend with 32 kills on a .239 attack clip to go along with 34 digs  - second-most on the team - five blocks and five aces. Cooney's weekend was highlighted with her seventh-career double-double and third of the season to pace the Illini with 17 kills on a .267 hitting percentage to go along with a career-high 17 digs at No. 19 Creighton.

For their efforts, Terry and Cooney were named to the Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team.

Senior Taylor Kuper also had a strong weekend defensively, totaling 67 digs in the Illini's three matches to average 6.09 digs per set, while adding 10 assists and six services aces on the weekend. Her weekend highlight came against No. 19 Creighton as she equaled her career-high with 29 digs – her 10th-career 20-dig match – to go along with six assists and two aces. 

Junior Kennedy Collins recorded 10 stuffs on the weekend to lead the Illini's blocking efforts, while redshirt-junior Diana Brown handed out 111 assists en route to leading the Illini to a .229 team hitting percentage at the Invitational, including back-to-back .306 attack clips against Omaha and SMU.

ILLINI IN NCAA & B1G RANKINGS

• Illinois ranks second in the nation and paced the conference in service aces per set (2.35).
• Illinois is 14th the nation and leads the Big Ten in total service aces (73).
• Illinois sits 62nd in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten with 36.19 attacks per set. 
• Illinois is sixth in the Big Ten with 14.65 digs per set. 
• Senior Taylor Kuper ranks 24th in the NCAA and leads the Big Ten in aces (17).
• Kuper also ranked 28th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in aces per set (0.55).
• Kuper ranks third the conference in digs per set (4.58) and is fourth in the Big Ten with 142 digs on the season.
• Along with Kuper, the Illini boast four players in the top five in the conference for service aces, with junior Jessica Nunge and sophomore Raina Terry tied for third (14) and graduate student Megan Cooney sitting in fifth (13). 
• Redshirt-junior Diana Brown ranks 55th in the NCAA and second in the conference with 315 total assists, while also sitting 57th nationally and seventh in the Big Ten with 10.16 assists per set. 

KUPER CLOSING IN ON CAREER MILESTONES, RECORD BOOK MARKS

Through her four years at Illinois, senior Taylor Kuper has registered 986 digs, sitting just 14 digs away from becoming the 16th Illini to reach the 1,000 career digs mark. 

The Lenexa, Kansas native also owns 138 career service aces to sit in seventh in program history, just five aces away from moving into the top five in the record book. Illini Hall of Famer Mary Eggers owns the all-time record with 180 aces from 1985-88.

COONEY'S CAREER MARKS

Graduate student Megan Cooney has been a stalwart in the Illini lineup since she has been a freshman - playing in 122 of 126 in her five years. 

After reaching the 1,000 kills mark a season ago on the road at Penn State, she recently moved over 1,200 career kills is now closing in on 300 blocks. Heading into the Redbird Classic this weekend, Cooney is just 15 blocks away and sits at 1,217 kills and 285 blocks in her career. 

She also recently passed 300 career digs at the Bluejay Invitational and currently owns 342 digs in her five-year Illini career. 

HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS STARTS 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 83-43 (.659), including a 47-31 (.603) 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, POULTER & VIRTUE HELP LEAD TEAM USA TO FIRST-EVER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL 

A trio of former Illinois volleyball greats are now Olympic gold medalists as Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Jordyn Poulter, along with USA Volleyball assistant coach Erin Virtue, helped lead Team USA to its first-ever gold medal in women's volleyball with a dominating 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 24-14) victory over Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

It marks the sixth medal earned by the United States in women's volleyball adding to its three silver medals (1984, 2008, 2012) and two bronze medals (1992, 2016).

Bartsch-Hackley and Poulter also become the first Illinois female athletes to earn gold medals and just the third and fourth Illini female athletes to medal at an Olympic Games following bronze medals from Tonya Buford-Bailey in the 400m hurdles at the 1996 Olympic Games and Aja Evans in bobsled at the 2014 Olympic Games.

The United States finished is tournament with a 7-1 record and dominated the playoff matches with sweeps in the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds. For their efforts, five members of Team USA were named to the Olympic Dream Team, highlighted by Bartsch-Hackley being named the Best Outside Hitter and Poulter earning Best Setter of the tournament.

USA controlled the gold medal match from start to finish, with Bartsch-Hackley posting 14 points on 11 kills, two blocks and one ace, while adding three digs and 11 successful receptions. Poulter, who came back from an ankle injury suffered during pool play to set in the semifinals and finals, helped her team to a .418 hitting efficiency. She totaled 36 assists, six digs and one point with a kill.

Bartsch-Hackley was a three-time All-American for Illinois from 2008-11 and led the Illini to the national championship match in 2011. Poulter was also a three-time All-American, including earning first-team accolades as a senior in 2018 as well as being named Big Ten Co-Setter of the Year, AVCA Northeast Region Player of the Year and a finalist for the Honda Award and led the Illini to the program's fourth-ever NCAA National Semifinal appearance. Virtue, who joined the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team as a consultant coach in 2017 and moved into a full-time role with USA Volleyball in fall of 2018, was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American setter during her time in the Orange and Blue from 2001-05.