Swift Trip to #2 Wisconsin Up Next for Illinois Volleyball

MATCH 24 - BEGIN AGAIN

The Fighting Illini go for their seventh straight win as Illinois volleyball battles #2 Wisconsin on the road on Saturday night. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

The 2023 campaign marks the 50th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,063-620-7 (.629). Chris Tamas enters his seventh season at the helm for the Orange and Blue, boasting a 128-77 (.624) mark.

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

OUR SONG

The Orange and Blue came away victorious in a midweek clash against in-state Big Ten foe Northwestern on Wednesday night. Illinois topped the Wildcats in straight sets, extending the Fighting Illini's six-match winning streak. The streak is currently the second-longest active stretch in the conference, behind undefeated #1 Nebraska, which has won 21 straight contests.

Raina Terry led the way with 22 kills, her eighth match this season with 20 or more kills. Defensively, Caroline Barnes shined with 18 digs, and Cari Bohm tallied five blocks. Jessica Nunge tied her season best with three aces, and Brooke Mosher dished out a team-high 40 assists.

The last six-match winning streak for the program came in 2021. The Illini topped Missouri, Illinois State, North Texas, Iowa, Northwestern and #4 Purdue from Sept. 17- Oct. 1 before having the streak snapped by #5 Wisconsin on Oct. 3.

ME!

Illinois holds the 49-47-1 all-time advantage over the Badgers, though the last eight meetings between the programs have favored Wisconsin. Head coach Chris Tamas owns a 2-10 mark against the Badgers.

SPARKS FLY

Raina 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 (13.26) and seventh for kills per set (4.62). Terry's 5.29 points per set is 10th nationally, while her 420 total kills rank first in the league and also sixth nationally. Her 1,207 total attacks also pace the Big Ten and are the third-most in the country. With 481.0 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 1,515 career kills. With her 1,515 kills and 151 aces, she is one of eight active athletes and the only Big Ten player to own over 1,500 kills and 150 aces.

LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

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 48 solo roofs, 412 block assists and 460.0 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 12 solo blocks and 94 block assists. She currently ranks ninth in the Illini all-time rankings with 460 total blocks.

I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE 

Over halfway through her senior year, Terry has tallied 20 or more kills in eight 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 420 kills in this season alone while hitting .202 on the year with 4.62 kills per set. One of the top left-side blockers in the nation, the Marengo, Ohio, native owns 11 solo stuffs and 54 block assists for 65 total roofs in 2023. 

Terry continues to etch her name in the Fighting Illini record books. The outside hitter sits 10th all-time with 1,515 career kills. With 420 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 151. Terry tallied 28 aces as a freshman, 55 as a sophomore, and 45 last year. With 23 aces during her senior campaign, the Ohio native is currently fifth on Illinois' all-time career aces rankings. She also sits 20th 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. Disa Johnson - 1984-87 - 154
5. Raina Terry - 2020-present - 151
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

RED

#2 Wisconsin enters the match at an impressive 21-1 this season and 12-1 in Big Ten matches. The Badgers lone loss came at Nebraska as the team lost a five-set thriller in what was a battle between the top-ranked teams in the country. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Sarah Franklin comes into the match having posted back-to-back matches with 20-plus kills in contests against Minnesota and #19 Purdue. As a team, the Badgers rank third nationally with a .310 hitting percentage and fourth with a .142 opponent hitting percentage.

BIGGER THAN THE WHOLE SKY

The Fighting Illini block has caused problems for opponents so far this season. Through 23 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. 22. In matches when the Illini lead opponents in blocks, Illinois owns a 12-3 record.

FEARLESS

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. 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.

TIED TIGETHER WITH A SMILE

A pair of Illini players have ties to Wisconsin. Setter Brooke Mosher hails from the state, coming to the Land of Lincoln from Waterloo, Wisc. Junior Caroline Barnes' sister, Lauren, was a part of the Badger program during their national championship run in 2021, also playing at the libero position.

COME BACK... BE HERE!

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.

THE 1

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. 

AUGUST

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. 

THE MAN

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 128-77 (.624), including a 77-54 (.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.

SPEAK NOW

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