Illini Set for Split Weekend at #1 Nebraska, vs. #25 Penn State for Huff Hall Centennial Match

MATCHES 22&23

Illinois is set for a split weekend against two ranked opponents. The Fighting Illini will start the week at #1 Nebraska on Thursday night before returning home to host #25 Penn State on Sunday afternoon for the Huff Hall Centennial match.

Thursday's contest will air nationally on FS1, while Sunday's clash is set to be broadcast on BTN.

OPPONENT SCOUT

Top-ranked Nebraska is the lone undefeated Division I program in the country, entering the week with a 22-0 record and an unblemished 12-0 mark in conference play. The Huskers have been essentially perfect against Big Ten opponents and have not dropped a set in a conference match thus far. Nebraska has posted 13 consecutive sweeps and last lost a set at #18 Creighton on Sept. 16; the Huskers have dropped just six sets all season.

Nebraska boasts the nation's most efficient offense with the #1 hitting percentage in Division I (.335); Texas is a distant second with a .307 clip. The Huskers' 14.44 kills/set ranks fifth nationally, while they hold their opponents to the second-lowest hitting percentage in the country at .117.

Despite bringing in a new head coach and eight newcomers, Nebraska has improved from last year's squad that went 33-3 and advanced to the Final Four. Middle blocker Andi Jackson leads the Big Ten with a .422 hitting percentage, while middle blocker Rebekah Allick ranks first in the conference in blocks/set (1.38) and third in hitting percentage (.412). Outside hitter Harper Murray averages a team-high 3.66 kills/set, while setter Bergen Reilly posts 10.08 assists/set, good for fourth in the conference.

The Huskers are led by first-year head coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who rejoined her alma mater after spending the previous eight seasons at Louisville. Busboom Kelly succeeded John Cook, who announced his retirement following the 2024 season. Busboom Kelly holds a career head coaching record of 225-44.

Penn State heads into the week with a 13-9 overall record and a 7-5 mark against conference opponents in 2025. The reigning national champions will face #9 Purdue on Friday night before making the trip to Champaign on Sunday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions secured their eighth national championship in program history during the 2024 season, and they returned several players from that title-winning team, including libero Gillian Grimes, outside hitter/right side Caroline Jurevicius, and middle blocker Maggie Mendelson.

Reloading via the transfer portal, PSU made a splash with the addition of Florida transfer Kennedy Martin, who currently leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with a 5.24 kills/set average. Ohio State transfer Emmi Sellman sits second on the Nittany Lion squad with 169 kills.

The Nittany Lions are led by Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who holds a 97-28 across her time as a head coach at her alma mater.

SERIES HISTORY

Heading into the 46th meeting in the all-time series, which dates back to 1977, the Huskers hold a commanding 8-36-1 lead against the Illini. Illinois is seeking its first win against Nebraska since Oct. 27, 2018, when the #6 Illini defeated the #9 Cornhuskers in Lincoln. The Orange and Blue are 3-15 all-time when playing the Huskers on the road.

Illinois head coach Chris Tamas is 1-14 against Nebraska in his career after previously being a part of the Nebraska coaching staff from 2015-16.

The Illini are 13-52 against Penn State in the all-time series, which first began in 1981. Illinois is 9-21 when hosting the Nittany Lions in Champaign, with the Orange and Blue seeking their first win against Penn State since posting a 3-1 upset victory at Huff Hall on Oct. 26, 2022.

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.

DE BOER WINS 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 2.83 kills, 3.29 points, 2.06 digs, and 0.38 blocks per set across her 77 sets of action while starting all 21 matches. Also totaling seven 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 21 matches, marking the team's first freshman starter at the position since 2023. Kirsch leads the Illini in digs, averaging 3.10 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 seven 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 six double-doubles and is averaging a career-best 9.70 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. 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. In that role, Hashbarger combined her expertise in brand marketing, leadership, and program management to support the team's success.

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 all aired 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 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 161-103 (.610), including a 97-73 (.571) 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. 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.