Illini Head East for Road Tests at Notre Dame, #3 Louisville

Matches 3+4

Illinois plays its first true road matches of the 2025 season after competing at neutral sites during the first two matches of the year. The Illini begin the weekend at Notre Dame on Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT before taking on No. 3 Louisville on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. Illinois and Notre Dame will square off at Purcell Pavilion on ACC Network Extra, while Sunday afternoon's contest between the Illini and the Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center is slated to air nationally on ESPN.

Last Time Out

The Illini split its two matches during its first weekend of the 2025 season, falling to South Dakota State on Aug. 29 before bouncing back with a 3-1 victory over Vanderbilt on Aug. 31 at the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party.

Taylor de Boer set back-to-back career-high kill totals with 15 kills against the Jackrabbits before following it up with 17 against the Commodores. Alyssa Aguayo, making her collegiate debut, tallied consecutive double-doubles with 10 kills and 19 digs against SDSU and 12 kills and 12 digs versus Vanderbilt. Aguayo became the first true freshman to Alyssa Aguayo to record a double-double in the first match of their debut season since Laura DeBruler in a four-set win vs. Bowling Green on Aug. 24, 2007.

Opponent Scout

Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 1-1 record after splitting its first two matches of the campaign, defeating Santa Clara while falling to Villanova. The Fighting Irish went the distance against both the Broncos and the Wildcats in the Catholic Challenge to open 2025.

Friday's foe returns 14 players from its 2024 team that finished 12-17, including 2025 Preseason-All ACC outside hitter Morgan Gaerte. The sophomore has taken on a significant role for the Fighting Irish in her second season, averaging 4.1 kills per set on a .273 clip across her first two matches of the season.

Notre Dame is led by fourth-year head coach Salima Rockwell, who is 34-51 during her time at the helm of the Fighting Irish volleyball program. 

Louisville sits at an unblemished 3-0 heading into the weekend, with the Cardinals starting the season with straight-set wins over Auburn, Morehead State, and St. John's. Led by first-year head coach Dan Meske, the Cardinals began the year at No. 4 in the AVCA preseason poll before climbing one spot up to No. 3 after week 1.

The national runner-up in 2024, Louisville was picked to finish second in the ACC and features three student-athletes on the 2025 AVCA Division I Player of the Year Award Watch List in outside hitter Chloe Chicoine and middle blocker Cara Cresse. Chicoine, a Purdue transfer in her first year at Louisville, and Cresse were joined by 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year setter Nayelis Cabello on the Preseason All-ACC team.

Sunday's match in downtown Louisville will be the first of four that the Cardinals host at KFC Yum! Center this fall, with U of L also slated to welcome Kentucky, Western Kentucky, and Notre Dame to the 22,000-seat facility.

Series History

Illinois holds a 5-2 edge in the all-time series with Notre Dame, though the Fighting Irish have won each of the last two meetings between the sides. The teams last faced off during the 2023 season, with Notre Dame posting a 3-0 victory on Sept. 7, 2023, in South Bend. Friday marks the Illini's third road contest against the Fighting Irish, with Illinois winning the first such match in straight sets in 1990 and Notre Dame claiming the victory in 2023.

The Orange and Blue are 13-4 all-time against Louisville, with Illinois also winners of four consecutive matches in the series. The sides last met during the 2018 NCAA tournament on Dec. 1, 2018, when the Illini posted a 3-1 triumph at Huff Hall. Illinois is 5-0 when playing the Cardinals in a true road environment, recording wins in 1996, 1999, 2015, and 2017.

Top-5 Road Matches

Illinois is 9-100 when playing top-5 teams, with the most recent victory coming on Oct. 1, 2021, at No. 4 Purdue in the form of a 3-2 win. The Illini's most recent top-3 victory came on Dec. 15, 2011, in the NCAA tournament semifinals against No. 1 USC.

Illinois' highest-ranked road win in program history dates back to a 3-0 victory at No. 3 Hawaii on Sept. 4, 1992.

Mr. 150

With Illinois' win over Vanderbilt on Aug. 31, head coach Chris Tamas earned his 150th victory at the helm of the Fighting Illini volleyball program. He became the fourth coach in program history to achieve that distinction, joining Mike Hebert (323), Don Hardin (234), and Kevin Hambly (178).

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.

The "A" Team

Of the 18 players on the 2025 roster, five have first names that start with the letter A: Averie Hernandez, Ava Wysocki, Alyssa Aguayo, Auburn Tomkinson, and Ashlyn Philpot

Land of Lincoln

The Illini squad features four players from the state of Illinois. Bianca May, Averie Hernandez, Vivian Campbell, and Ava Wysocki all hail from the Land of Lincoln.

New Faces in New Places

This past offseason, the Fighting Illini saw changes to head coach Chris Tamas's staff. Meredith Schamun and Hannah Hashbarger joined the team as the associate head coach and director of operations, respectively.

Schamun joins the Fighting Illini following a four-year head coaching stint at Penn. Most recently, she guided 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 honorable mention 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 which finished 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. Starting all 31 matches last year, Philpot was a bright spot in the Orange and Blue lineup every time she stepped on the floor. In her first match at Huff Hall, the North Carolina native tallied a double-double, amassing 11 kills and 10 blocks. The last time a middle blocker achieved such a feat was Kennedy Collins in 2021. The last freshman middle to post such numbers was Illini All-American Ali Bastianelli in 2015.

Philpot tallied 10+ kills in four Big Ten matches in her debut season, including 17 kills in a five-set triumph over No. 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 Orange and Blue'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, while the inaugural Broadway Block Party match against Vanderbilt will air on SEC Network. Illinois will battle Louisville on the road on ESPN.

It's a [Block] Party

The Fighting Illini faced off against Vanderbilt at the inaugural Broadway Block Party in Nashville on Aug. 31. The match at Bridgestone Arena was the third-ever clash for the Commodores as the program is in its inaugural volleyball season.

Head Coach Chris Tamas at the Helm

Chris Tamas enters his ninth season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2025 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.

In his time with the program, Tamas has made an impressive impact on Illinois volleyball and owns an overall record of 150-95 (.612), including a 90-68 (.560) 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 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 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 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 had multiple first-team honorees 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.