Illini Conclude Regular Season At Home Against #15 Indiana, Northwestern

MATCHES 28&29

Illinois closes the regular season at home for the first time since 2018, hosting #15 Indiana and Northwestern on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.

Wednesday night's contest against the ranked Hoosiers is set for 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network, while Friday's Senior Night showdown against the Wildcats will take place at 7 p.m. CT on B1G+.

OPPONENT SCOUT

#15 Indiana has put together one of its best seasons in program history, entering Wednesday's matchup with 22 overall wins and 13 victories in Big Ten play, the latter of which marks an all-time best for the Hoosier program.

Boasting a 22-6 overall record and a 13-5 mark against conference opponents, IU features a balanced attack with three players averaging over three kills per set: Candela Alonso-Corcelles (3.57), Jaidyn Jager (3.44), and Avry Tatum (3.19). Freshman setter Teodora Krickovic has guided the Hoosiers to a .288 hitting percentage while posting 10.73 assists/set.

Indiana is 8-3 away from home this season, which includes ranked road wins over #17 USC, #24 UCLA, #19 Penn State, and current #13 Miami.

The Hoosiers are led by Steve Aird, who is in his eighth season at the helm of the program.

Northwestern enters the final week of the regular season with a 16-14 record overall and a 6-12 mark in Big Ten action. The Illini swept the Wildcats away from home on Oct. 19 in the first meeting between the sides.

The Wildcats returned nine players from its 2024 roster that posted a 5-23 overall record while bringing in nine newcomers. Senior Rylen Reid leads the Wildcat offense with 3.32 kills/set, though she did not play in October's matchup in Evanston.

NU is 5-8 in true road matches in 2025, though the Wildcats have lost seven of their last eight contests away from home after starting 4-1.

Tim Nollan is in his second season at the helm of Northwestern, holding a 21-37 record since joining the Wildcat program. Nollan made the move to the Big Ten after spending eight seasons at Grand Canyon (2016-23).

SERIES HISTORY

The Fighting Illini are 76-20  against Indiana in the all-time series, which dates back to 1975. The programs each defended their home court in last season's matches, with the Hoosiers winning the most recent meeting in the 2024 regular-season finale. Illinois has won the last 16 matchups between the Illini and the Hoosiers at Huff Hall.

The Fighting Illini are 68-32 against Northwestern ahead of the 101st meeting in the all-time series. Illinois defeated the Wildcats in straight sets on the road on Oct. 19 in the most recent contest between the in-state conference foes.

TOP-10 ROAD WIN

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

HARRIS, MILES SIGN WITH ILLINI IN 2026

Illinois head coach Chris Tamas announced two additions to the Fighting Illini's 2026 signing class. Maya Harris and Madi Miles both signed Big Ten Athletics Aid Agreements on Wednesday.

"Both Madi and Maya have been exceptional for their school and club teams, playing at the highest level," Tamas said. "They have a strong competitive spirit and the skills to back it up. We are excited to add them as official members of the Fighting Illini."

A 2025 AVCA All-Region honoree, Harris is an outside hitter from Angola, Indiana, and ranked fourth in the nation in aces (177) in 2025.

Miles is an outside hitter from Fishers, Indiana, who is ranked #97 overall and the #40 OH in the Class of 2026 by Prep Dig.

DE BOER WINS 2025 ATHLETESCAN TRUE SPORT AWARD

Illinois' 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 2.76 kills, 3.17 points, 2.37 digs, and 0.33 blocks per set across her 99 sets of action while starting all 27 matches. Also totaling 10 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 for the entirety of her debut campaign, marking the team's first freshman starter at the position since 2023. Kirsch leads the Illini in digs, averaging 3.18 digs/set, and set a career-high with 24 digs during the Illini's road match at UCLA on Nov. 20.

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 nine matches, including a career-high 18 kills in her return to her home state at UCLA on Nov. 20.

Kenna Phelan stepped into the Illini's starting setter spot after playing her first two seasons at Florida State. She has logged nine double-doubles and is averaging a career-best 9.73 assists/set. 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 moving 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.

NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES

The Fighting Illini saw changes to head coach Chris Tamas' staff in 2025 with the addition of Meredith Schamun as the team's associate head coach.

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.

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.

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.­

AS SEEN ON TV

The Illini will be featured on national television 10 times this season. The team's road matches at Purdue, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all aired on Big Ten Network. The Illini's home clashes against Iowa State, Penn State, and Indiana will also be shown on BTN. Contests at Nebraska and UCLA were played 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 162-108 (.600), including a 98-78 (.557) 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.