Illini Play Host to #11 Purdue, Michigan at Huff Hall

MATCHES 18+19

The Fighting Illini return to Champaign on a five-match winning streak ahead of matchups against #11 Purdue and Michigan. Illinois hosts the Boilermakers on Friday at 7 p.m. after defeating Purdue away from home earlier this season, while the Illini will take on the Wolverines for the first time this season on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Both matches from Huff Hall will stream on B1G+.

LAST TIME OUT

The Fighting Illini closed its four-match road swing with a sweep against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Oct. 19.

Illinois extended its winning streak to five matches and improved to 7-1 in conference play with a 12-5 overall mark.

Taylor de Boer tallied a team-high 14 kills, her eighth straight effort with 10+ kills. She also made two digs while leading the team in kills for the 13th time this season.

Alyssa Aguayo posted her third consecutive outing in double figures with 12 kills and a career-best .423 hitting percentage. She also filled the stat sheet with seven digs, four assists, three blocks, and an ace.

Auburn Tomkinson amassed six kills, three digs, and two blocks, while Ashlyn Philpot added six kills, two digs, and two blocks, including a solo stuff.

Kenna Phelan recorded 31 assists, eight digs, four kills, and an ace. Averie Hernandez finished with two aces, while Kenzie Cogan collected eight digs. Kayla Burbage notched four kills and four blocks.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Purdue comes into Friday's contest with a record of 15-3, with the Boilermakers posting ranked wins against Big Ten opponents UCLA, USC, and Indiana already this season. The Boilermakers also got a huge win against #10 SMU on Sept. 14. The Boilermakers and the Fighting Illini have already seen each other once this season on Sept. 28, when Illinois defeated Purdue in West Lafayette, 3-1. Purdue looks to stay perfect on the road with a record of 7-0 coming into Champaign.

Purdue returned eight players from a season ago while also reloading via the transfer portal and its 2025 freshman class. Junior setter Taylor Anderson returns after having a good year in the 2024 season in which she ended with 1,327 assists. So far this season, she has already accumulated 718 assists. Another major piece they get back is junior Kenna Wollard. Wollard ended with 150 kills last year and has taken a major jump this year with 317 kills.

The Boilermakers' only three losses this year have come to #23 Georgia Tech, Illinois, and #1 Nebraska.

Purdue is led by Dave Shondell, who has been with the Boilermakers for 23 seasons. Shondell is the all-time winningest head coach in program history. He is also a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and was named the 2021 Northeast Region Coach of the Year and the 2011 Mideast Region Coach of the Year.

Michigan enters the weekend with a record of 12-7, including big wins against #10 Minnesota and Iowa. The Wolverines come into Saturday's match with an away record of 3-5. 

The Wolverines brought back 13 players from a season ago while also reloading via the transfer portal and its 2025 recruiting class. Junior Morgan Burke is a key piece for this Michigan team. After accumulating 1,168 assists in 2024, she has 487 assists so far this year. Another piece returning for the Wolverines is grad student Allison Jacobs. Last year, Jacobs totaled 335 kills; so far this year she has 271 kills.

Michigan started off their season very hot with a record of 6-0. The Wolverines have lost four out of their last five, though, so they will come to Champaign looking to get back into the win column.

Michigan is led by Illinois volleyball alum Erin Virtue, who is in her third season at the helm of the Wolverine program. Virtue was with the Wolverines from 2011-2015 as their recruiting and offensive coordinator. She served as the offensive coordinator and setters coach for the Women's National Team that earned a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a silver medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Virtue returns to her alma mater on Saturday, competing at Illinois from 2001-04. Guiding the Illini to a spot in the Sweet 16 in 2003, she was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and secured honorable mention AVCA All-America accolades following her junior season.  

SERIES HISTORY

Heading into the 99th all-time meeting between Illinois and Purdue, the Illini hold a 52-46 record against the Boilermakers since the series began back in 1974. Purdue has won four of the last six matchups, but Illinois won the most recent contest with a win this year on Sept. 28 in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers will try to defeat Illinois in Champaign for the first time since Sept. 30, 2022.

Ahead of the 82nd all-time meeting between Illinois and Michigan, the Fighting Illini are 54-27 against the Wolverines since the series began back in 1976. Illinois has won four of the last five matchups, including each of the last three. Michigan is looking for its first road win over Illinois since Nov. 1, 2019.

TOP-10 ROAD WIN

Illinois secured its first ranked victory of the season with a four-set road triumph at #10 Purdue on Sept. 28 in the team's first conference road match of the season.

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

Ashlyn Philpot collected 12 kills, 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.

DE BOER EARNS 2025 ATHLETESCAN TRUE SPORT AWARD

Illinois redshirt sophomore Taylor de Boer was recognized at the 2025 Canadian Sport Awards as this year's recipient of the AthletesCAN True Sport Award.

The True Sport Award recognizes an inspirational Canadian citizen who exemplifies true sport values of fairness, excellence, inclusion, and fun in a meaningful way. Through the pursuit of sporting excellence this Canadian hero showcases dedication, perseverance, sportsmanship, respect for others, and a true love of sport.

A native of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, de Boer was honored for her perseverance and resilience throughout her battle with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the kidneys, joints, lungs, and other small vessels. Diagnosed prior to her first season with the Fighting Illini in 2023, de Boer had just returned from being a team captain for Canada's U19 team at the Pan American Cup.

Only 17 years old at the time of her diagnosis in the summer of 2023, she spent the next month in critical care at the OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria. She used her time in the hospital to get involved with Uplifting Athletes, which raises awareness and funds for rare diseases. Continuing her work as she continued her treatment and recovery, she was tabbed a Rare Disease Champion by the organization.

Other finalists for this year's award included Eric Furtado-Rodrigues (Wheelchair Rugby) and Ruby Stevens (Para Swimming and Wheelchair Rugby).

PHELAN GOOD

Kenna Phelan was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week on Sept. 29 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 became the first Illini to secure Big Ten Setter of the Week honors since Diana Brown in 2021.

IMMEDIATE IMPACTS

Freshman Alyssa Aguayo averaged 2.90 kills, 3.40 points, 2.10 digs, and 0.46 blocks per set across her 63 sets of action while starting all 17 matches. Also totaling six 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 17 matches, marking the team's first freshman starter at the position since 2023. Kirsch leads the Illini in digs, averaging 3.08 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 six matches, including a career-high 17 kills at Maryland on Oct. 10.

Kenna Phelan stepped into the Illini's starting setter spot after playing her first two seasons at Florida State. She has logged five double-doubles, is averaging 9.84 assists/set, and has at least one block in 13 of Illinois' 17 matches despite standing at 5-foot-7. With her 43 assists and 21 digs at Ohio State, Phelan became the first Illini with a 40-assist, 20-dig double-double since 2017.

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 at Texas and Florida State, respectively. Dzienny was an early enrollee at Florida before making her way to Champaign.

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.

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 161-99 (.619), including a 97-69 (.584) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten, 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 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.