Road Trip to Iowa, #1 Nebraska On Deck for Fighting Illini Volleyball

MATCH 25-26

Illinois volleyball remains on the road for a pair of matches. The team battles Iowa on Friday, with first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. The Fighting Illini squad closes out the weekend at #1 Nebraska, with the match slated for 2 p.m. Fans can catch both contests on B1G+.

The 2023 campaign marks the 50th season of Illinois volleyball, with the Illini holding an overall record of 1,063-621-7 (.629). Chris Tamas enters his seventh season at the helm for the Orange and Blue, boasting a 128-78 (.621) mark.

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

LAST TIME OUT

The Fighting Illini fell at #2 Wisconsin in straight sets in their last match. Brooke Mosher tallied a team-high 19 assists and added eight digs. Raina Terry led the way offensively with nine kills and a pair of aces. 

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

Illinois has won 11 straight matches against the Hawkeyes, owning the 70-14 advantage in the all-time series. However, the Huskers hold a commanding 33-8-1 edge, having triumphed in the last eight meetings between the teams. Head coach Chris Tamas is undefeated against Iowa, holding an 11-0 record. Against Nebraska, the Fighting Illini leader is 1-10.
 

REIGN OF TERROR

Over halfway through her senior year, Raina 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 429 kills in this season alone with 4.56 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 1,524 career kills. With 429 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 153. Terry tallied 28 aces as a freshman, 55 as a sophomore, and 45 last year. With 25 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 - 153
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 week third nationally in attacks per set (13.14) and ninth for kills per set (4.56). Terry's 5.23 points per set is 11th nationally, while her 429 total kills rank second in the league and also eighth nationally. Her 1,235 total attacks also pace the Big Ten and are the fourth-most in the country. With 492.0 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 10th all-time with 1,524 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 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.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Iowa is searching for its first victory in Big Ten play, owning an 8-18 overall record and a 0-14 mark in league play. Michelle Urquhart ranks second in the conference with 39 aces on the year and 0.46 aces per set. During the team's first meeting this year, Illinois came away withe the sweep. The Fighting Illini hit .284 as a team with 47 kills in the triumph over Iowa. 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.

Nebraska is the last undefeated team remaining, posting a 24-0 overall mark and a 15-0 conference record. The Huskers have been ranked atop the American Volleyball Coaches Associtation (AVCA) poll for two weeks after dethroning Wisconsin for the top spot following a five-set thriller that favored Nebraska. The team is first nationally with a .135 opponent hitting percentage. Individually, Bergen Reilly paces the Big Ten and sits 13th in the country with 10.65 assists per set.

BIG BLOCK O'CLOCK

The Fighting Illini block has caused problems for opponents so far this season. Through 24 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 an 11-3 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. 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 TOGETHER WITH A SMILE

The Illini coaching staff holds ties with the Nebraska volleyball program, as both Chris and Jen Tamas were a part of the coaching staff from 2015-16. While with the Huskers, the team won the 2015 national championship and made a Final Four appearance in 2016, the year Nebraska also won the Big Ten title. Director of operations Andy Wenstrand also spent time in Lincoln, working five and a half years at Nebraska, serving a number of roles including director of creative and emerging media for the Husker athletic department.

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 128-78 (.621), including a 77-55 (.583) 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