FIRST SERVE | BIG TEN/PAC-12 CHALLENGE
The Illinois volleyball team returns to Huff Hall to host the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge for the seventh-straight season - minus a break in the 2020-21 Big Ten Conference-only season due to the COVID-19 pandemic - this weekend, as it welcomes in No. 11 Washington, Colorado and Iowa on Sept. 3-4.Â
Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge Schedule
Friday, Sept. 3
4 PM | Colorado vs. Iowa - B1G+
8 PM | Washington at Illinois - Big Ten Network
Saturday, Sept. 4
2 PM | Colorado at Illinois - B1G+
5 PM | Washington vs. Iowa - B1G+
Friday's contest with the Huskies will be broadcasted on Big Ten Network, with fans able to watch anywhere via the Fox Sports app. Saturday will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+.Â
Both matches will be on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign and streamed on FightingIllini.com.
PROMOTIONS: B1G WEEKEND ON TAP IN HUFF HALL
With the 2021 home schedule set to kick off this weekend with the 2021 Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on September 3-4, the Illinois volleyball team is excited to host the 10-year reunion for the Fighting Illini's 2011 National Runner-Up team as well as welcome back alums and United States Olympic Gold Medalists Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, Jordyn Poulter and Erin Virtue on Friday.
Along with these festivities, fans will once again be in Huff Hall after 646Â days since the final home match of the 2019 season.
Prior to the Illini's home opener against No. 11 Washington at 8 p.m. CT in Huff Hall, there will be a pre-match recognition of the Olympians along with a special ceremony during the national anthem. The 2011 team will also be honored inbetween the second and third sets. Giveaways will include USA-themed swag.
The 2011 season was an historic one for Illinois after finishing 32-5 and advancing to the program's third-ever NCAA National Semifinal and first-ever NCAA National Championship match and ending the season ranked No. 2 in the country.
Along with Friday's festivities, Saturday is College Colors Day and fans are encouraged to wear orange to "Orange Out" Huff Hall for the Illini's 2 p.m. CT match against Colorado. The first 1,000 fans will get "Back in the Fight" shirts. Fans can also bring your football ticket for the Illinois football game vs. UTSA and receive one complimentary general admission ticket to the Colorado match (September 4).
2021 ILLINOIS VOLLEYBALL SEASON PARKING INFORMATIONÂ
Illinois volleyball is excited to debut another season at Huff Hall as the home slate gets underway this weekend with the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Sept. 3-4. Fans are encouraged to utilize available parking in the area, with various lots within a short walk of Huff Hall, as well as metered spaces surrounding the facility.
Shuttle bus transportation will no longer be available to and from Illinois volleyball matches.
Please take the time to read all of the parking options outlined below before arriving on match day.
Parking Information for Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge // September 3-4
Friday, September 3
» Fans attending the Iowa vs. Colorado match should park in the NE State Farm Center lot prior to 5 p.m. CT.
» After 5 p.m. CT, all parking options will be available as listed below.
» ADA golf cart shuttles will be available. Shuttles will run from Lot E15 and the NE State Farm Center lot. Shuttles will start 90 minutes prior to the start of the match.
Saturday, September 4
» With both football and volleyball at home on Saturday, parking for volleyball will be available at the following locations:
» Lot E12 | Located behind Huff Hall
» Lot E3 | Main Library Lot (west of building)
» Lot C9 | North of the Armory
» Lot F29 | Parking garage located at the corner of Gregory and Dorner
» Metered street parking - Numerous metered spaces available on Gregory, Armory, Sixth St., and Fourth St.
» Fans with Illinois football parking passes should utilize those passes for volleyball parking as well
» State Farm Center will not be available on Saturday due to football parking passes already in use in those lots.
ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
Illinois owns a 3-9 all-time record in the Challenge after dropping both matches - 3-2 to then-No.16 Washington and 3-0 to Colorado - in the annual event in Iowa City, Iowa, during the 2019 season.
The Illini will be facing a pair of familiar opponents this weekend in Washington and Colorado, with UI leading 3-2 in the all-time series with the Huskies, while the series is tied with the Buffaloes.Â
The Huskies also have a familiar face on the coaching staff with former Illini assistant Jason Mansfield, who coached in Champaign during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
PANTHER INVITE RECAP & WEEKEND STANDOUTS
For the first time since the 2018 season, the Illinois volleyball team opened the season with a 3-0 start after earning three-straight wins at the Panther Invite.Â
The Illini opened the 2021 season with a come-from-behind five-set thriller (23-25, 32-30, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8) over UC Santa Barbara on Friday afternoon, before a dominating 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-21, 25-23) over Milwaukee in the second match of the day. Illinois then finished the weekend off with another 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-16, 25-20) on Saturday against Valparaiso.Â
Junior Kennedy Collins was named the Tournament MVP, while redshirt-junior Diana Brown and junior Jessica Nunge were also selected to the All-Tournament Team.Â
Along with the All-Tournament honorees, sophomore Raina Terry led all players with 37 kills for a 3.36 kills per set mark, while adding the second-most digs with 29, while adding seven aces and five blocks.
Junior Kyla Swanson also had a strong weekend with a team-high 14 total blocks for a 1.27 blocks per set mark, while adding 21 kills and two digs. Swanson opened the season with her first-career double-double with 10 kills and 10 blocks against UCSB.
Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper led with 44 digs for a 4.00 digs per set mark and was the co-leader on the team with seven service aces.Â
PANTHER INVITE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONOREES
Junior Kennedy Collins was named the Tournament MVP after leading the Illinois volleyball team to a 3-0 weekend at the Panther Invite in Milwaukee over the weekend. Collins registered 32 kills for a 2.91 kills per set on a .500 hitting percentage, while adding nine total blocks, two assists and a dig in her middle blocker position. The junior started off her season with a game-high 17 kills on a .520 hitting percentage, before adding eight kills on a .462 attack clip to go along with five blocks against host Milwaukee. She then wrapped up her weekend with seven kills on a .500 percentage with three blocks against Valpo.Â
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown and junior Jessica Nunge were also named to the Panther Invite All-Tournament Team. Brown totaled 115 assists for a 10.45 assists per set, while adding 26 digs for a 2.36 digs per set, five kills on a .308 hitting percentage, four blocks and four service aces. Brown opened the season with her 25th career double-double with 48 assists, 10 digs, two kills and an ace in a season-opening win against UCSB. She then handed out 32 assists to go along with six digs, three blocks and two kills against host Milwaukee, before finishing the weekend with her second double-double of the weekend with 35 assists, 10 digs, two aces, one solo block and a kill in a win over Valpo.
Nunge registered 29 kills, eight digs, six blocks and five aces at the Panther Invite. In her Illini debut, she posted 13 kills, three aces, two blocks and two digs in a five-set win over UCSB.
COONEY CLOSING IN ON CAREER MARKS
Graduate student Megan Cooney has been a stalwart in the Illini lineup since she has been a freshman - playing in 117 of 121 in her five years.Â
After reaching the 1,000 kills mark a season ago on the road at Penn State, she is now closing in on even bigger marks of 1,200 kills, 300 digs and 300 blocks.Â
Heading into the B1G/Pac-12 Challenge weekend, Cooney owns 1,156 kills, 289 digs and 253 blocks.Â
OPENING DAY SUCCESS
The Illini have had tremendous success on opening night, going 37-10 all time in the first match of the season. Illinois has lost just one season opener since 1999, starting the new millennium with a 12-match winning streak from 2000-2011, before dropping the 2012 lid-lifter at Dayton. Illinois opened its Big Ten Conference-only 2020-21 season with a 3-1 win at Iowa back on Jan. 22 in a unique spring season of Big Ten volleyball.Â
Illinois is even more successful in home openers, going 39-8 all time in the first home match of the year. The Orange and Blue have won 22 their last 24 home openers. Since making the move to Huff Hall in 1990, Illinois is 27-3 in the first home match of the season.Â
The Illini's 2021 home opener is set for next Friday, Sept. 3 , as they host the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge and will take on No. 4 Washington at 8 p.m. CT in a Big Ten Network-televised match.Â
HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS STARTS FIFTHÂ 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 81-40 (.669), 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 MEDALÂ
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.
