Illinois Opens Season at Northern Illinois

MATCH ONE

Illinois volleyball officially opens the 2023 season with a match at Northern Illinois on Saturday. First serve from the Convocation Center 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 1,049-610-7 (.632). Chris Tamas enters his seventh season at the helm for the Orange and Blue, boasting a 115-67 (.632) mark.

An audio stream of the season opener will be available on FightingIllini.com/watch or live in the Champaign area on WDWS 1400AM & 93.9FM with Tim Ditman. Fans can watch the match on ESPN+.

LOOKING BACK AT 2022

Illinois owned a 15-15 mark in 2022 with a 10-10 record against Big Ten opponents. The Fighting Illini went 1-11 against ranked opponents last year, topping No. 11 Penn State for their lone ranked victory.

The Orange and Blue lost three starters from last year's squad in Rylee Hinton, Diana Brown and Jessica Nunge. 

Brown was a four-time captain for Illinois volleyball, making multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four, during her time with the program. During her career in the Orange and Blue, Brown posted 4,247 assists. The mark put the setter fifth all-time in the Illinois record books. Her 54 career double-doubles also left Brown tied for fourth in the Illini history books.

Along with her accomplishments on the court, Brown was a two-time Academic All-American, earning first-team honors following her senior season. She received the Big Ten previously.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

Illinois holds the 17-3-1 all-time advantage over Northern Illinois. The mark includes a 3-2 mark when visiting the Huskies. Entering Saturday's match, the Fighting Illini have won the last 10 matches versus NIU.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Northern Illinois boasted a 17-11 record in 2022, owning a 10-8 mark against Mid-American Conference opponents. NIU head coach Sondra Parys enters her first seasons leading the Husky squad. Parys was previously an assistant at Loyola Chicago from 2018-22.

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 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.

Entering her senior season, Terry sits 22nd all-time in the Illini record books with 1,095 kills. She also ranks ninth in service aces, amassing 128, so far, at Illinois.

TERRY ENTERS CAREER ACES TOP-10

Entering her senior campaign, six-rotation outside hitter Raina Terry already owns 128 career service aces. Terry tallied 28 aces as a freshman, 55 as a sophomore and 45 last year. The Ohio native currently holds sole possession of ninth place on Illinois' all-time career aces rankings.

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. Sandy Scholtens - 1985-88 - 131
9. Raina Terry - 2020-present - 128
10. Nancy Brookhard - 1986-89 - 122

ILLINI IN THE POLLS

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. 

Additionally, Illinois received votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll to start the 2023 season. Seven teams from the Big Ten were represented on the preseason list.

ROSTER RUNDOWN

The Illini carry a squad of 15 student-athletes for the 2023 campaign, including seven letterwinners from 2022 and six newcomers.

Kennedy Collins and Columbia transfer Vanessa Pan are the team's graduate students. Terry comes in as the lone senior on the roster, while Kayla Burbage and Caroline Barnes come into the season as juniors.

Underclassmen include redshirt sophomores Sarah Bingham and Brooke Mosher. New addition Maddie Llewellyn comes in as a sophomore, and the Orange and Blue's redshirt freshmen are Cari Bohm, Bianca May and Sophie Stephenson. Lily Barry, Taylor de Boer, Gabby Dean and Maya Imoto-Eakin round out the squad as the true freshmen.

HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS STARTS SEVENTH SEASON 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 six seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas has made an impressive impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 115-67 (.632), including a 69-49 (.585) 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 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 vs. Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill.
• Home opener:  Aug. 29 vs. Valparaiso 
• B1G opener: Sept. 20 at Indiana
• B1G home opener: Sept. 24 vs. Michigan State