Illini Travel North for Ranked Road Matchup at #7 Wisconsin

MATCH 12

Illinois continues its conference schedule with its second straight top-10 road match. The Illini, now on a season-long three-match winning streak, will travel north to play at #7 Wisconsin on Thursday night at 7 p.m. CT. The contest at UW Field House will air nationally on Big Ten Network. 

LAST TIME OUT

Illinois secured its first ranked victory of the season with a four-set road triumph at #10 Purdue on Sunday afternoon. Now on a three-match winning streak, the Fighting Illini improved to 2-0 in Big Ten contests and 7-4 overall after defeating the Boilermakers away from home.

In front of a hostile crowd at Mackey Arena, the Orange and Blue's win marked their first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2021, while the Illini are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2022.

Ashlyn Philpot collected 12 kills, her second showing in double figures this season, including the final point of the afternoon to seal the victory. Hitting at a .429 clip, she also notched four blocks and accounted for the Illini's final three kills of the day. 

Alyssa Aguayo and Auburn Tomkinson also ended the afternoon with double-digit kills. Aguayo amassed 11 kills, five digs, four assists, and a block, while Tomkinson tallied 11 kills and added a career-high five blocks and a dig.

Taylor de Boer led the Illini in kills once again, finishing with 17. She also logged a block and a dig.

Defensively, Taryn Kirsch totaled a career-high 21 digs alongside her five assists, while Kenna Phelan posted her fourth double-double of the season with 39 assists and 10 digs.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Wisconsin rides an eight-match winning streak into Thursday night's contest, with the Badgers most recently beginning their Big Ten slate with sweeps against Rutgers and Iowa. UW has won its last five matches on its home court this season, while the team's lone blemish came against #5 Texas on Aug. 31 as part of the Opening Spike Classic at Wisconsin's Kohl Center. 

The Badgers have three ranked wins under their belt thus far in 2025, defeating #14 Kansas on Aug. 29, #21 Georgia Tech on Sept. 12, and #15 Florida on Sept. 21.

After advancing to the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA tournament, Wisconsin brought back seven players from a season ago while also reloading via the transfer portal and its 2025 recruiting class. Two All-Big Ten honorees from 2024 returned to the Badgers with middle blocker Carter Booth and setter Charlie Fuerbringer. Fuerbringer currently leads the conference and ranks second in the country with 11.35 assists/set.

UW's biggest addition came with senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer, who joined the Badgers after spending her first three years at Oregon. Colyer currently ranks third in the nation and second in the Big Ten in both kills/set (5.19) and points/set (5.77).

Wisconsin is led by Kelly Sheffield, who is in his 13th season at the helm of the Badger program. A three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, Sheffield secured his 600th career head coaching win following Wisconsin's sweep against Iowa on Sunday. 

SERIES HISTORY

Heading into the 100th all-time meeting between Illinois and Wisconsin, the programs hold an identical 49-49-1 record since the series began back in 1975. The Badgers have won the last 10 matchups, with the Illini's last victory against Wisconsin coming on Dec. 8, 2018. Illinois is 17-25-1 against Wisconsin in true road matches, while the Orange and Blue are looking for their first road win against the Badgers since Oct. 12, 2018. 

ILLINOIS VS. TOP 10 OPPONENTS

Illinois is 44-173 all-time when playing top-10 teams, with the most recent victory coming on Sunday, when Illinois defeated #10 Purdue on the road in the form of a 3-1 win at Mackey Arena. Thursday's matchup at #7 Wisconsin marks the Illini's third ranked contest of the season after falling in four sets at #3 Louisville on Sept. 7 and taking down #10 Purdue last week.

PHELAN GOOD

Kenna Phelan was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week on Monday after leading the Fighting Illini to a 2-0 week with wins against [RV] Oregon and at #10 Purdue.

Phelan averaged 9.4 assists/set and 2.4 digs/set over the course of the two-match weekend, totaling 66 assists, 17 digs, two kills, two aces, and a block. She tallied 27 assists while making seven digs and tacking on an ace and a block in the Illini's against the Ducks. Two days later, in her first career Big Ten road match, Phelan recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 39 assists and 10 digs against the #10-ranked Boilermakers. She also added two kills and an ace as the Orange and Blue earned their first top-10 victory since 2021.

She is the first Illini to secure Big Ten Setter of the Week honors since Diana Brown during the 2021 season.

IMMEDIATE IMPACTS

Freshman Alyssa Aguayo averaged 2.83 kills, 3.29 points, 2.34 digs, and 0.41 blocks per set across her 41 sets of action while starting all 11 matches. Also totaling five double-doubles thus far, she became the first Illini true freshman with 10+ kills in their first six collegiate matches since 2016, when Jacqueline Quade also had 10+ kills in her first six matches.

Fellow freshman Taryn Kirsch has donned the libero jersey across the Illini's first 11 matches, marking the team's first freshman starter at the position since Lily Barry in 2023. Kirsch leads the Illini in digs, averaging 2.98 digs/set, and set a career-high with 21 digs in the Illini's four-set win at #10 Purdue.

Auburn Tomkinson, a redshirt sophomore, has made an immediate impact at Illinois after transferring from Texas, where she spent her first two seasons but did not play. The California native has 10+ kills in five matches while starting in all but one contest thus far in her Illini career.

Kenna Phelan stepped into the Illini's starting setter spot after playing her first two seasons at Florida State. She has logged four double-doubles, is averaging 9.56 assists/set, and has at least one block in eight of Illinois' 11 matches despite standing at 5-foot-7.

FINE NINE

The Illinois volleyball team added nine newcomers for the 2025 season. Auburn Tomkinson, Taryn Kirsch, Devin Dzienny, Gabriella Pitcel, Kenna Phelan, Sophi Randall, Alyssa Aguayo, Ava Wysocki, and Lara Žigic all joined the roster during the offseason. Tomkinson and Phelan have previous collegiate experience, having played the last two seasons at Texas and Florida State, respectively. Dzienny was an early enrollee at Florida before making her way to Champaign.

SOUND THE ALARM

Kayla Burbage announced in January that she would be returning for the 2025 season. The Swiss-Army knife of the Illini squad, Burbage played two seasons with the Illini before missing the 2024 campaign due to injury. A transfer from Missouri, Burbage saw time as an opposite in all 30 matches for Illinois in 2022, averaging 2.28 kills and 0.60 blocks per set. The following year, Burbage posted 2.10 kills and 0.47 blocks per set while playing on both pins. 

OH, CANADA

Redshirt sophomore Taylor de Boer represented her home country of Canada at both the U23 NORCECA Pan American Cup and the Senior Pan American Cup in Mexico over the summer.

De Boer and Canada claimed the silver medal at the U23 NORCECA Pan American Cup. The U23 Canadian team, making its first-ever appearance in the Women's U23 Pan American Cup final, fell to the United States in the final. The team's second-place finish was Canada's best ever in the competition, and it also served as the squad's first-ever medal.

LAND OF LINCOLN

The Illini squad features four players from the state of Illinois. Bianca May (Orland Park), Averie Hernandez (Bloomington), Vivian Campbell (Oswego), and Ava Wysocki (Kildeer) all hail from the Land of Lincoln.

NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES

The Fighting Illini saw changes to head coach Chris Tamas' staff in 2025. Meredith Schamun and Hannah Hashbarger joined the team as the associate head coach and director of operations, respectively.

Schamun joins the Illini following a four-year head coaching stint at Penn, most recently guiding the Quakers to a successful 13-10 campaign with an 7-7 Ivy League record in 2024. The season included the Quakers' first win over rival Princeton since 2015 and their first victory over Brown since 2019. Following the season, a pair of Schamun's players received All-Ivy recognition.

Schamun came to Penn from Villanova, where she helped the Wildcats to a 39-23 record in two seasons as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Schamun assisted Villanova to a pair of Big East Tournament appearances and a combined 23-13 record in league play. In 2019, the Wildcats were 22-9 overall and 13-5 in the Big East. That year, she guided the Wildcat offense to finish second in the league in hitting percentage and trained Villanova's all-time assist leader.

Prior to arriving at Villanova, Schamun spent two seasons at Tulane as an assistant coach, helping the Green Wave to the highest RPI jump in the nation (157 spots) in 2016. Tulane had its first winning season in three years and finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference with Schamun on the sideline. From 2014-15, Schamun was the director of volleyball operations at UCF, helping organize travel, scheduling, and recruiting for the Knights, who won the conference title and reached the NCAA Championship field in 2014.

A highly decorated setter at Rice University, Schamun was a four-year starter for the Owls. The Conference USA Setter of the Year in 2009, Schamun was a Conference USA Championship MVP, two-time All-C-USA First Team, AVCA All-Region, and AVCA All-America honorable mention selection. She helped lead the Owls to a conference championship and two NCAA Championship berths, and finished her career as Rice's all-time leader in assists with 5,190.­

Hashbarger comes to Illinois following two seasons on the Regis volleyball staff, serving as the director of operations and engagement. As the program's director of operations and engagement, Hashbarger combined her expertise in brand marketing, leadership, and program management to support the team's success.

LOOKING BACK AT 2024

The Fighting Illini saw much success during the 2024 season, owning an 18-13 overall record and a 10-10 mark in Big Ten play. The team made its return to the NCAA Tournament, falling to Northern Iowa, 3-1, in the opening round.

A key loss from last year's squad is Raina Terry, who earned AVCA All-American status at the conclusion of the season. The program's all-time leader in kills, points, and aces, Terry earned AVCA Third Team distinction, the first of its kind for the Ohio native. Terry was drafted 11th overall to the Columbus Fury, becoming the first Illini player to be selected in the Pro Volleyball Federation draft.

Not to be outshined, Ashlyn Philpot returns to the Illini following a stellar freshman campaign in 2024. The middle blocker was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team at the conclusion of the regular season. Philpot tallied 10+ kills in four Big Ten matches in her debut season, including 17 kills in a five-set triumph over #20 USC. The following night, she recorded 11 kills while hitting .667 against Ohio State. Such marks accompanied with nine roofs on the weekend helped Philpot earn her first-ever Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.

AS SEEN ON TV

The Illini will be featured on national television nine times this season. The team's road matches at Purdue, Wisconsin, and Minnesota will air on Big Ten Network. The Illini's home clashes against Iowa State and Penn State will also be shown on BTN. Contests at Nebraska and UCLA will be shown on FS1. The inaugural Broadway Block Party match against Vanderbilt aired on SEC Network, while Illinois battled #3 Louisville on the road on ESPN.

HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS AT THE HELM

The eighth head coach in Illinois history, Tamas has made an impressive impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 156-98 (.614), including a 92-68 (.575) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference, as well as five NCAA Tournament appearances, including three NCAA Regional appearances and a trip to the Final Four in 2018. 

Tamas 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 #7 seed Kentucky in Lexington. His 150th career victory came against Vanderbilt at the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party on Aug. 31.

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 #3 overall seed in the tournament, riding a 17-match win streak into the Final Four and ending the season ranked #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 had multiple first-team honorees in a season.