| WEEK SIX: ILLINOIS (10-3, 2-0 B1G) at No. 4 Purdue (10-1, 2-0 B1G) // vs. No. 5 Wisconsin (9-1, 1-1 B1G) |
| Match 14: #4 Purdue |
Friday, Oct. 1 // 6 p.m. CT // Holloway Gymnasium // West Lafayette, Ind. |
| Match 15: #5 Wisconsin |
Sunday, Oct. 3 // 12 p.m. // Champaign, Ill. // Huff Hall |
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Purdue: Illinois leads, 49-42 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-2, on 4/3/2021 | Streak: Won 1 | Results
Wisconsin: Illinois leads, 49-42-1 | Last Match: Illinois lost, 1-3, on 1/30/2021 | Streak: Lost 3 | Results |
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FIRST SERVE | WEEK SIX
After opening the Big Ten Conference schedule with back-to-back five set wins last week, the Illinois volleyball team continues league play with a pair of ranked foes this weekend. The Illini open the weekend on the road, taking on No. 4 Purdue on Friday (Oct. 1) night at 6 p.m. CT in West Lafayette, Ind., before returning to Huff Hall to host No. 5 Wisconsin at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday (Oct. 3).
Both matches will be streamed via BTN+ ($) as well as on the radio on WDWS 1400 in Champaign and streamed on FightingIllini.com.
The Illini's 10-3 start to the 2021 season is the best start to a season since starting the 2018 season at 14-0.
The 2-0 start in Big Ten play also marked the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Illini opened conference action with a pair of wins.
The 2021 season marks the 48th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,022-586-7 (.635) and a mark of 458-289 (.613) in the Big Ten.
ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
Illinois leads the all-time series with the Boilermakers, 49-42 and are 18-22 in West Lafayette, Ind. The Illini have won four of the last five meetings with Purdue, with three wins coming in Holloway Gymnasium, including the final match of the 2020-21 season.
Behind a complete team effort, Illinois battled back to take down No. 8 Purdue in a five-set (15-25, 25-21, 18-25, 27-25, 15-11), come-from-behind victory the regular season finale on April 3 in Holloway Gym.
Redshirt-junior Bruna Vrankovic had an impressive day with career-highs of 23 kills – on a .263 hitting percentage – and 11 digs to mark her first-career double-double, with graduate student Megan Cooney also notching a double-double with 14 kills and a career-high-tying 12 digs. Sophomore Raina Terry joined the duo with a double-double of 17 kills and 10 digs in the win.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown registered her 24th-career double-double and team-leading 10th of the season with 46 assists and 14 digs, while also adding three blocks. Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper had a strong performance with 26 digs.
The Illini also hold a 49-42-1 advantage in the all-time series against Wisconsin, including a 23-19 mark in Huff Hall. The Badgers swept both matches against Illinois during the 2020-21 season, but the Illini were the first team to take a set off the then-No. 1 team in the nation.
ILLINI OUTLAST WILDCATS IN FIVE IN B1G HOME OPENER
For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, the Illinois volleyball opened Big Ten Conference action with a pair of wins as the Illini outlasted Northwestern in five (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-9) in the league home opener on Saturday (Sept. 25) night in Huff Hall.
Sophomore Raina Terry turned in a season-high 19 kills on a .227 hitting percentage to lead the Illini, while also adding five blocks and five service aces. For the second-straight match, graduate student Megan Cooney registered a double-double – the ninth of her career – with 16 kills on a season-high .536 attack clip, 12 digs and five blocks, while junior Kennedy Collins joined the duo with 16 kills of her own with only two errors on 22 swings for a .636 hitting percentage and four blocks.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown paced the Illini attack with a season-high 52 assists as she directed UI to a .336 team hitting percentage, while adding nine digs.
Defensively, the Illini outblocked the Wildcats, 13.0 to 8.0, with junior Kyla Swanson notching her second-straight nine-block outing. Senior Taylor Kuper led the Illini with 13 digs as the home team held Northwestern to a .184 team attack clip.
WEEK FIVE STANDOUTS
Graduate student Megan Cooney registered back-to-back double-doubles en route to leading the Illini to back-to-back wins to open the Big Ten Conference season against Iowa and Northwestern. Cooney totaled a team-high 33 kills for a 3.30 kills per set average on a .406 hitting percentage, while also posting 23 digs (2.30 digs per set), 10 blocks (1.00 blocks per set), three service aces and three assists.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown recorded 90 assists for a 9.00 assists per set mark en route to directing the Illini to a .272 team attack clip in the two matches. She added 29 digs (2.90 digs per set), six kills on a .600 hitting percentage, one block and one service ace.
Junior Kyla Swanson paced the Illini with 18 blocks for a 1.80 blocks per set average to help hold UI's opponents to a .157 team hitting percentage.
ILLINI IN NCAA & B1G RANKINGS
• Illinois ranks fourth in the nation and leads the Big Ten in service aces per set (2.22).
• Illinois is fifth the nation and leads the Big Ten in total service aces (111).
• Illinois ranks 50th in the NCAA in opponent hitting percentage (.164).
• Illinois is 84th in the NCAA and sixth in the Big Ten with 13.20 kills per set.
• Senior Taylor Kuper ranks 13th in the NCAA and leads the Big Ten in aces (26).
• Kuper also ranked 29th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in aces per set (0.52).
• Kuper ranks 74th in the NCAA and fourth the conference in digs per set (4.54) and is third in the Big Ten with 227 digs on the season.
• Sophomore Raina Terry is 16th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten with 25 total aces and is 32nd nationally and third in the conference with 0.50 aces per set.
• 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 fourth (21) and graduate student Megan Cooney sitting in sixth (20). Nunge also sits 57th nationally, with Cooney ranking 75th in the NCAA in total aces.
• Redshirt-junior Diana Brown ranks 34th in the NCAA and third in the conference with 508 total assists, while also sitting 57th nationally and eighth in the Big Ten with 10.16 assists per set.
• Junior Kennedy Collins ranks 85th in the NCAA and eighth in the Big Ten with a .357 hitting percentage.
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 currently sits 13th in the program with 1,071 career digs.
The Lenexa, Kansas native also owns 147 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 127 of 131 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 kills, 300 digs and 300 blocks in her Illini career and is closing in on 1,300 kills and 400 digs. Heading into this weekend's matches, Cooney currently sits at 1,279 kills, 382 digs and 302 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 88-43 (.672), including a 49-31 (.613) 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.
