Fighting Illini Travel for Matches at Maryland, Rutgers

Illinois (8-10) at Maryland & Rutgers // Oct. 20 & 22 // Xfinity Center Pavilion & Jersey Mike's Arena
Match 19: at Maryland (13-7, 3-5 B1G)	Friday, Oct. 20 | 6 p.m. CT | Xfinity Center Pavilion | Radio | Live Stats | B1G+
Match 20: at Rutgers (9-9, 1-7 B1G)	Sunday, Oct. 22 | 2 p.m. CT | Jersey Mike's Arena | Radio | Live Stats | B1G+
Printable Notes	Illinois | Maryland | Rutgers
Series History	Maryland: ILL leads, 14-0; Last Match: ILL won, 3-0, on 10/7/22; Streak: W14 Rutgers: ILL leads, 15-1; Last Match: ILL won 3-1, 10/15/23; Streak: W15
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MATCHES 19-20

Illinois volleyball hits the road for a pair of Big Ten matches this weekend. The Fighting Illini travel to Maryland for a conference clash against the Terrapins on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT. The team then readies for a rematch with Rutgers at Jersey Mikes Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. Both matches will be streamed on B1G+.

The 2023 campaign marks the 50th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,058-620-7 (.628). Chris Tamas enters his seventh season at the helm for the Orange and Blue, boasting a 123-77 (.615) mark.

An audio stream of the matches will be available on FightingIllini.com/live or live in the Champaign area on WDWS 1400AM & 93.9FM with Tim Ditman. 

LAST TIME OUT

The Fighting Illini topped the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers in a four-set bout at Huff Hall on Sunday afternoon. Raina Terry recorded her sixth outing with at least 20 kills and tallied a season-high four aces. The outside hitter also registered four blocks and seven digs. Jessica Nunge notched a season-high 12 kills alongside two aces. Brooke Mosher secured her ninth double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs. Her 43 assists marked the sixth time she has dished out at least 40 this season. 

The Orange and Blue recorded 10 blocks, their ninth match with double-digit stuffs. Cari Bohm led the way with five, while Terry and Kennedy Collins each tallied four.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

Maryland is winless against the Fighting Illini, with Illinois owning a perfect 14-0 record against the Terps. With head coach Chris Tamas at the helm, Illinois is 9-0 against Maryland, having never dropped a set in College Park during that time.

Illinois holds the 15-1 advantage in the series with the Scarlet Knights, having won 15 straight matches, including a 3-1 rout at Huff Hall this year. During his tenure, Tamas is 8-0 against Rutgers, with three of those victories coming in New Jersey.

ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS

Terry is currently ranked in the top-10 nationally in several categories. The senior outside hitter comes into the week third nationally in attacks per set (13.23) and fourth for points per set (5.51). Terry's 4.84 kills per set is sixth nationally and first in the conference, while her 334 total kills also rank first in the league and also sixth nationally. Her 913 total attacks also pace the Big Ten and are the fourth-most in the country. With 380.5 total points, the Ohio native currently sits atop the league standings and seventh in all of Division I. In the Illinois career rankings, Terry sits in 13th all-time with 1,429 career kills.

THE 400 CLUB

Illinois graduate student Kennedy Collins tallied her 400th career block against UCF as a part of the Boilermaker Challenge. Playing all five years of her career in the Orange and Blue, Collins has 45 solo roofs, 387 block assists and 432.0 total blocks, so far. During her junior campaign, the Zion, Ill., native recorded 126 total blocks, averaging 1.07 blocks per set. In this season alone, Collins has already recorded nine solo blocks and 69 block assists. She currently ranks 14th in the Illini all-time rankings for total blocks.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Maryland comes into the week with a 13-7 overall record and a 3-5 mark in league play. The team has lost three straight matches, taking just one set against Northwestern during that span. The Terps pace the Big Ten with 193.5 total blocks this season, and the team's 2.69 blocks per set ranks third in the league and 16th nationally. 

Rutgers enters the week at 9-9 overall and 1-7 against Big Ten opponents in 2023. The Scarlet Knights picked up their first-ever win over a top-25 opponent during their last home match, topping then-ranked #16 Minnesota, 3-1. During the match at Huff Hall earlier this year, Taylor Humphrey paced the Rutgers squad with 16 kills, while Alissa Kinkela (13) and Anna Hartman (10) also notched double-digits in the category.

BIG BLOCK O'CLOCK

The Fighting Illini block has caused problems for opponents so far this season. Through 18 matches, the Orange and Blue have tallied double-digit roofs in nine contests. The team's 17 blocks against the Spartans of Michigan State on Sept. 24 marked a season-high for Illinois. In matches when the Illini lead opponents in blocks, Illinois owns a 8-3 record.

ACE, ACE BABY

Illinois registered a new season-best 12 service aces at Ohio State on Oct. 13. Individually, Brooke Mosher led the way, logging a new career-best five aces during the four-set battle. It was the second time this year the team posted 10 or more strikes from the service line, with the previous season high coming at Bradley on Sept. 12.

Last year, the Orange and Blue added double-digit aces on two separate occasions, including a new program-best 18 against Missouri State on Sept. 9, 2022.

NUNGE NATION

Jessica Nunge returned to the Fighting Illini volleyball team for her fifth year, as announced on Sept. 1. The outside hitter made her season debut in the second set against Wichita State. For the full story on Nunge's decision to return, click here.

REIGN OF TERROR

For a second-straight year, Raina Terry was named to the Big Ten Preseason Team. Terry was one of 15 conference student-athletes to earn the accolade.

The outside hitter was a unanimous All-Big Ten first-team selection following her junior season. The Marengo, Ohio, native joined an elite group of 32 Illini players who have earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Northeast All-Region honors.

Last season, Terry led the Orange and Blue with 444 kills and 4.07 kills per set. The outside hitter paced the Big Ten with 363 points during conference play, averaging 3.04 points per set. 

During her junior campaign, Terry recorded over 20 kills on three separate occasions, all during Big Ten play. She tallied a season-high 24 kills against both Purdue (Sept. 30) and Penn State (Oct. 26). Her first effort came against Maryland on Sept. 23, when she logged 20 kills in a four-set battle on the road.

Over halfway through her senior year, Terry has tallied 20 or more kills in six matches, including a new career-best 28 kills at Ohio State on Oct. 13. Terry went back-to-back following the performance at OSU with 24 kills against Rutgers, marking the first time in her career she tallied 20 or more kills in two straight matches.

A staple in the Illini lineup, Terry has paced the squad in kills in all but one match and has registered 334 kills in this season alone while hitting .220 on the year with 4.84 kills per set. One of the top left-side blockers in the nation, the Marengo, Ohio, native owns eight solo stuffs and 43 block assists for 51 total roofs in 2023. 

TERRY ENTERS CAREER ACES TOP-10

Six-rotation outside hitter Raina Terry owns 145 career service aces. Terry tallied 28 aces as a freshman, 55 as a sophomore, and 45 last year. Already with 17 aces during her senior campaign, the Ohio native is currently sixth on Illinois' all-time career aces rankings. She also sits 21st nationally for career aces.

Illinois Volleyball Career Service Ace Rankings

1. Mary Eggers - 1985-88 - 180
2. Laura Bush - 1987-90 - 176
3. Taylor Kuper - 2018-21 - 173
4. Disa Johnson - 1984-87 - 154
5. Lorna Henderson - 1989-92 - 146
6. Raina Terry - 2020-present - 145
7. Tina Rogers - 1990-93 - 143
8. Chris Schwarz - 1985-88 - 141
9. Sandy Scholtens - 1985-88 - 131
10. Nancy Brookhart - 1986-89 - 122

ILLINI IN THE PRESEASON POLL

Illinois volleyball was picked to finish seventh in the league standings in 2023, the conference announced in late July. Reigning national champion Wisconsin was picked as the conference favorite for the 2023 volleyball season as voted on by the Big Ten coaches, while Nebraska was picked to finish second and Minnesota was tabbed third. 

HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS AT THE HELM

Chris Tamas enters his seventh season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2023 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.

In his time with the program, Tamas has made an impressive impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 123-77 (.615), including a 72-54 (.571) 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 most 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, including a four-set win over 2020-21 national champion and No. 7 seed Kentucky in Lexington. The Illini finished the 2021 season ranked No. 16 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll with a 22-12 overall record and finished seventh with a 12-8 mark in the Big Ten Conference.  

Illinois experienced one of its most successful seasons ever in 2018 under Tamas, who was subsequently named 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 ending the season ranked No. 3 in the 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 in school history.

Under Tamas' leadership, the Illini collected a number of individual honors, highlighted by AVCA All-America First-Team selections in Jordyn Poulter and Jacqueline Quade – the first time in program history Illinois has had multiple first-team honors in a season – as well as a Third-Team selection in Ali Bastianelli. Poulter and Bastianelli, who also garnered All-America Third-Team honors in 2017, were also named Senior CLASS Award finalists and CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees. The trio also collected unanimous All-Big Ten First Team accolades, with junior Ashlyn Fleming named to the second team and Poulter garnering the Illini's first-ever Big Ten Conference Co-Setter of the Year honor.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN

The 2023 schedule features a nonconference slate of 10 matches with a pair of opponents from last year's NCAA Tournament. The Orange and Blue squad will face Big Ten opponents in 20 matches, including home-and-home series with Purdue, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, three NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.

Breakdown of opponents for the 2023 Big Ten schedule:

Home & Away – Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Ohio State, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Home Only – Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State
Away Only – Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska

Schedule Notes

• 30 total matches
• 13 matches at Huff Hall
• 14 away matches, three neutral-site matches
• NCAA Tournament:
    - Qualifiers: 8 (Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, UCF, USC, Wisconsin)
    - Sweet 16: 5 (Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin)
    - Elite Eight: 2 (Ohio State, Wisconsin)
• Season opener: Aug. 26 at Northern Illinois
• Home opener:  Aug. 29 vs. Valparaiso 
• B1G opener: Sept. 20 at Indiana
• B1G home opener: Sept. 24 vs. Michigan State