Battle at #19 Purdue Up Next for Illinois Volleyball

MATCH 15

A Big Ten match at Holloway Gymnasium against #19 Purdue awaits Illinois volleyball as the team takes on the Boilermakers on Wednesday night. First serve on FS1 is slated for 5 p.m. CT. 

The 2023 campaign marks the 50th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,056-618-7 (.628). Chris Tamas enters his seventh season at the helm for the Orange and Blue, boasting a 122-74 (.622) mark.

An audio stream of the match 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 Orange and Blue picked up its first Big Ten sweep on Saturday, topping Iowa in straight sets at Huff Hall. 

Raina Terry led the way with 19 kills while hitting .348 for the night. Kayla Burbage recorded double-digit kills, adding 10 while also recording three blocks. Kennedy Collins added a team-high five blocks, while Cari Bohm and Jessica Nunge logged four roofs each.

Brooke Mosher added her seventh double-double of the year and ninth of her career when she tallied 36 assists and 10 digs. The setter also added five kills and three blocks.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

Illinois holds the 50-44 all-time advantage over Purdue. The last four meetings between the programs have resulted in five-set matches, with the Orange and Blue going 2-2 during those outings. Head coach Chris Tamas owns a 5-4 mark against the Boilermakers.

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 (12.82) and ninth for points per set (5.26) and kills per set (4.64). Terry's 255 total kills rank first in the conference and 12th nationally, while her 705 total attacks also pace the Big Ten and are the ninth-most in the country. With 289.5 total points, the Ohio native currently sits atop the league standings and 11th in all of Division I. In the Illinois career rankings, Terry sits in 13th all-time with 1,350 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 44 solo roofs and 376 block assists, 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 eight solo blocks and 58 block assists. She currently sits 15th in the Illini all-time rankings.

OPPONENT SCOUT

#19 Purdue comes into the match at 8-5 this season with a 2-2 mark against league opponents. The team has lost three straight home matches, including a five-set battle against Northwestern on Sunday. The squad is second in the league with 745 total digs this year. Raven Colvin paces the conference and ranks 17th nationally with 75 total blocks.

BIG BLOCK O'CLOCK

The Fighting Illini block has caused problems for opponents so far this season. Through 14 matches, the Orange and Blue have tallied double-digit roofs in eight contests. The team's 17 blocks against the Spartans of Michigan State on Sept. 24 marked a season-high for Illinois. 

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.

TERRY ENTERS CAREER ACES TOP-10

Six-rotation outside hitter Raina Terry owns 138 career service aces. Terry tallied 28 aces as a freshman, 55 as a sophomore, and 45 last year. Already with 10 aces during her senior campaign, the Ohio native is currently eighth on Illinois' all-time career aces rankings. She also sits 22nd nationally for career aces.

Illinois Volleyball Career Service Ace Rankings

1. Mary Eggers - 1985-88 - 180 aces
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. Tina Rogers - 1990-93 - 143
7. Chris Schwarz - 1985-88 - 141
8. Raina Terry - 2020-present - 138
9. Sandy Scholtens - 1985-88 - 131
10. Nancy Brookhard - 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 122-74 (.622), including a 71-51 (.582) 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