Illinois Hits the Road for Final Regular-Season Matches at Minnesota, Northwestern

MATCHES 29-30

Illinois volleyball hits the road for the final time during the regular season as the team heads to Minnesota and Northwestern this weekend. The battle against the Golden Gophers on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m., while the bout with the Wildcats is slated for 7 p.m. Both matches will air on B1G+.

The 2023 campaign marks the 50th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,066-622-7 (.629). Chris Tamas enters his seventh season at the helm for the Orange and Blue, boasting a 131-79 (.624) mark.

An audio stream of the match will be available on FightingIllini.com/live with Tim Ditman. 

LAST TIME OUT

The Fighting Illini closed out its home slate with a Senior Night sweep of Michigan on Saturday. The Orange and Blue tallied 41 kills while hitting .360 in the match. The team also posted seven blocks and seven aces.

Raina Terry paced the Illini squad with 17 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. The outside hitter reached her 500^th kill this season in the match, owning 508 this year. Brooke Mosher recorded 32 assists and was a dig shy of a double-double. Caroline Barnes led the way with 10 digs, while Cari Bohm amassed four blocks.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The series between the Golden Gophers and Fighting Illini favors Minnesota, 44-39-1. Illinois has lost the last eight meetings, including a five-set thriller at Huff Hall last season. During his time at the helm for the Illini, head coach Chris Tamas owns a 1-9 mark against Minnesota and has never beaten the Gophers on the road.

Against Northwestern, Illinois is 65-31 all-time, including a 26-15 mark on the road. The Illini topped the Wildcats in straight sets at Huff Hall earlier this year. Chris Tamas currently owns a 9-2 record against NU.

REIGN OF TERROR

Over halfway through her senior year, Raina Terry has tallied 20 or more kills in 10 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 back-to-back matches.

A staple in the Illini lineup, Terry has paced the squad in kills in all but two matches and has registered 508 kills in this season alone with 4.66 kills per set. One of the top left-side blockers in the nation, the Marengo, Ohio, native owns 12 solo stuffs and 61 block assists for 73 total roofs in 2023. 

Terry continues to etch her name in the Fighting Illini record books. The outside hitter sits 10th all-time with 1,603 career kills. With 508 in her senior campaign, Terry currently sits between AVCA All-American honorable mention Megan Cooney and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Michelle Bartsch-Hackley.

The six-rotation outside hitter already ranks in the top-10 all-time for career aces with 163. Terry tallied 28 aces as a freshman, 55 as a sophomore, and 45 last year. With 35 aces during her senior campaign, the Ohio native is currently fourth on Illinois' all-time career aces rankings. She also sits 17th nationally for career aces.

Illinois Volleyball Career Kills Rankings

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. Raina Terry - 2020-present - 163
5. Disa Johnson - 1984-87 - 154
6. Lorna Henderson - 1989-92 - 146
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 RANKINGS

Raina Terry is currently ranked in the top-10 nationally in several categories. The senior outside hitter comes into the weekend third nationally in attacks per set (13.06) and ninth for kills per set (4.66). Terry's 5.37 points per set is seventh nationally and first in the conference, while her 508 total kills rank first in the league and also seventh nationally. Her 1,423 total attacks also pace the Big Ten and are the third-most in the country. With 585.5 total points, the Ohio native currently sits atop the league standings and sixth in all of Division I. In the Illinois career rankings, Terry sits in 10th all-time with 1,603 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 49 solo roofs, 419 block assists and 468.0 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 amassed 13 solo blocks and 104 block assists. She currently ranks ninth in the Illini all-time rankings with 471 total blocks.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Minnesota enters Friday's match at 15-11 this year with a 11-7 mark in Big Ten play. The Gophers, who are receiving votes in this week's Amereican Volleyball Coaches Association poll, have won three straight, including back-to-back sweeps at Maturi Pavilion. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair leads the team with 313 kills this season and averages 3.44 kills per set against league opponents. 

Northwestern comes into the week at 13-15 during the 2023 campaign including a 7-11 conference mark. The Wildcats also boast a 5-6 record at home this year, Ellee Stinson comes into the final week of the regular season at third in the conference with 461 total digs and a 4.31 digs-per-set average. During the first meeting between the programs this season, Averie Hernandez and Julia Sangiacomo tallied double-digit kills, posting 12 and 10, respectively. 

BIG BLOCK O'CLOCK

The Fighting Illini block has caused problems for opponents so far this season. Through 28 matches, the Orange and Blue have tallied double-digit roofs in 12 contests. The team's season-high 17 blocks came on two separate occasions, against Michigan State on Sept. 24 and at Maryland on Oct. 20. In matches when the Illini lead opponents in blocks, Illinois owns an 13-3 record.

ACE, ACE BABY

Illinois registered a season-best 12 service aces both at Ohio State on Oct. 13 and against the Buckeyes on Nov. 15. Individually, Brooke Mosher led the way both times, logging five aces during the four-set battle in Columbus and a career-high seven strikes from the service line at Huff Hall. The team first posted 10 or more strikes from the service line at Bradley on Sept. 12. Against Indiana, the Illini also tallied 10 aces, with Kennedy Collins leading the way with a career-best five in the match. 

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. Illinois has added double-digit strikes from the service line in five matches, most recently tallying 12 against the Buckeyes on on Nov.15.

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.

HALL-OF-FAMER HENDRICKSON

Krista Hendrickson was inducted into the University of Washington Husky Hall of Fame on Oct. 22. For the full story on Hendrickson's accomplishment, click here.

...READY FOR IT?

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 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.

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 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 131-79 (.624), including a 80-56 (.588) 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