WELCOME TO THE 2022 VOLLEYBALL SEASON
Illinois volleyball continues its 2022 campaign with the squad's final non-conference tilts of the the regular season in Milwaukee, Wis., this weekend. Entering on a four-match win streak, the Fighting Illini are set for a Saturday twinbill from the Al McGuire Center. Action will open at 10 a.m. CT with a match against Illinois State before a 6 p.m. tilt at No. 19 Marquette.
The 2022 campaign marks the 49th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,039-598-7 (.634) and a mark of 468-297 (.612) in the Big Ten.
Additionally, an audio stream will be available on FightingIllini.com/watch or live in the Champaign area on WDWS 1400AM & 93.9FM. The Illini's fourth weekend action will be streamed. Neutral action against the Redbirds can be found on the Marquette Athletics YouTube page while Saturday night against vs. the Golden Eagles will be accessible on FloSports.
ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
Illinois volleyball is headed to Marquette for the second time in program history with a perfect 6-0 record in all-time meetings. The Golden Eagles have been ranked in each of the last three meets with the Illini.
Illinois State owns a slim 30-28 lead in the all-time series with the Orange and Blue. The last neutral site meeting between the programs was Sept. 12, 1987, when the Illini claimed a 3-1 victory.
NON-CONFERENCE GAUNTLET
Illinois volleyball is facing one of the toughest non-conference schedules of the 2022 campaign, and doing it entirely on the road. Illinois faced a top 15 opponent each of the first two weeks of the season - falling to No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 14 Washington. The Orange and Blue's additional opponents include Ole Miss and Colorado - two more Power 5 programs.
After playing the third weekend at Dayton, the Illini squared off with Eastern Illinois in the midweek before heading up to No. 19 Marquette to face the Golden Eagles and Illinois State on Saturday, Sept. 17.
MAKING HISTORY IN DAYTON
In the Fighting Illini's four-set win over Missouri State on Friday, Sept. 9, Illinois volleyball set a new program record. The Orange and Blue racked up 18 combined service aces in the victory, including seven from Raina Terry.
The Illini's 2022 mark surpassed the previous record of 17 aces, achieved twice against Michigan State (1982 & 1988).
ILLINI PICKED 6TH IN B1G PRESEASON POLL
Illinois volleyball was picked to finish tied for sixth in the league standings in 2022, the conference announced on August 1. Reigning national champion Wisconsin was picked as the conference favorite for the 2022 volleyball season as voted on by the Big Ten coaches, while Nebraska was picked to finish second and Minnesota was tabbed third. Ohio State and Penn State rounded out the top five while the Illini tied with Michigan at sixth.
ROSTER RUNDOWN
The Illini will carry a squad of 16 student-athletes for the 2022 campaign, including 10 letterwinners from 2021 and four newcomers.
Diana Brown is the team's lone redshirt senior while Kennedy Collins, Rylee Hinton, Kyla Swanson and Jessica Nunge round out the seniors. Preseason All-B1G pick Raina Terry is listed as the Illini's lone junior.
Underclassmen include a pair of redshirt sophomores in Sophie Gregus and Maddie Whittington. Illinois has three sophomores including Carolina Barnes, Kayla Burbage and Becca Sakoda. Sarah Bingham and Brooke Mosher are the Orange and Blue's redshirt freshmen while Cari Bohm, Bianca May and Sophie Stephenson round out the squad as the true freshmen.
HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS STARTS SIXTH SEASON AT THE HELM
Chris Tamas is in his sixth season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2022 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.
In his six seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas has made an immediate impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 105-55 (.656), including a 59-39 (.602) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference, as well as four NCAA Tournament appearances, including three NCAA Regional appearances and a trip to the Final Four in 2018.
Tamas recently earned his 100th career win - with all 100 coming at the helm of the Illini program - after leading Illinois to its third trip to the Sweet 16 in five seasons after back-to-back wins to open the 2021 NCAA tournament.
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.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
The Illini opened the 2022 slate with a split result at the Ole Miss Invitational. Illinois fell to No. 9 Georgia Tech in straight sets before picking up a 3-1 win over Ole Miss the following day. Kayla Burbage and Jessica Nunge earned spots on the Ole Miss Invitational All-Tournament Team.
The following weekend at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, hosted by the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., the Illini fell to both Colorado (0-3) and No. 14 Washington (1-3). Raina Terry earned All-Tournament Team honors.
Illinois swept the Dayton Invitational across the third weekend, downing Missouri State (3-1), Villanova (3-0) and Dayton (3-0). Diana Brown earned Tournament MVP honors while Caroline Barnes and Raina Terry joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
The Illini wrap up the non-conference schedule with a pair of matches in Milwaukee, Wis., on Saturday, Sept. 17, first taking on Illinois State, before battling host Marquette later in the day.
The 2022 Big Ten volleyball schedule was previously announced by the conference in June, with the league once again competing in a 20-match conference schedule, with the Illini playing seven teams both home and away and six teams once (three home and three away).
Breakdown of opponents for the 2022 Big Ten schedule:
Home & Away – Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Home Only – Iowa, Nebraska, Purdue
Away Only – Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State
Schedule Notes
• 29 total matches
• 10 matches at Huff Hall
• 14 away matches, five neutral-site matches
• Three non-conference tournaments
• Ranked in the final AVCA poll: 11 matches vs. 8 teams
• 2021 Conference Champions/Tournament Champions: 5 (Washington Dayton, Marquette, Illinois State, Wisconsin)
• NCAA Tournament:
- Qualifiers: 13 (Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Washington, Dayton, Illinois State, Marquette, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin)
- Sweet 16: 7 (Georgia Tech, Washington, Ohio State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin)
- Elite Eight: 5 (Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin)
- Final Four: 2 (Nebraska, Wisconsin)
- National Runner-Up: 1 (Nebraska)
- National Champion: 1 (Wisconsin)
• Season opener: August 26 vs. Georgia Tech in Oxford, Miss.
• Home opener & B1G opener: September 23 vs. Maryland
• B1G road opener: October 2 at Wisconsin
• NCAA Tournament First & Second Rounds: Dec. 1-3 at campus sites
• NCAA Tournament Regionals: Dec. 8-10 at campus sites
• NCAA Tournament Semifinals & Championship: Dec. 15 & 17 at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
OPENING DAY/NIGHT SUCCESS
The Illini have had tremendous success on opening night, going 38-11 all time in the first match of the season. Illinois has lost just two season openers 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 and most recently downed UC Santa Barbara in a five-set thriller last season. In one of the program's toughest season openers to date, the Illini dropped the first match of the 2022 campaign to No. 9 Georgia Tech.
Illinois is even more successful in home openers, going 39-9 all time in the first home match of the year. The Orange and Blue have won 22 their last 25 home openers. Since making the move to Huff Hall in 1990, Illinois is 27-4 in the first home match of the season.
The Illini's 2022 home opener won't come until Big Ten action arrives on Sept.. 23 when Maryland comes to town.
VOLLEYBALL RANKED NO. 17 IN AVCA PRESEASON POLL
Coming off a 2021 season that saw Illinois volleyball reach the Sweet 16 for the third time in five years under head coach Chris Tamas, the Orange and Blue opened the 2022 campaign ranked No. 17 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Poll.
The Illini, who finished last season with a 22-12 overall record and a seventh place finish in the Big 10, will return 12 members from the 2021 squad and welcome in newcomers Cari Bohm, Kayla Burbage, Bianca May and Sophie Stephenson.
Illinois is joined by six other Big 10 schools in the AVCA Preseason Poll, ranked behind No. 1 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 13 Purdue and ahead of No. 20 Penn State. Additionally, Michigan is receiving votes.
Joining their conference foes are two Top-10 opponents, No. 8 Washington and No. 9 Georgia Tech. Dayton and Marquette are opponents that are receiving votes.
