University of Illinois
Minnesota
Illinois Opens Big Ten Play At Home Vs. #15 Minnesota, #23 USC
September 22, 2026 | Volleyball
PREVIEW
| Matches 12+13 // Illinois Hosts #15 Minnesota, #23 USC to Start B1G Play | |
|---|---|
| Match 12: #15 Minnesota | Thursday, Sept. 24 | 7 p.m. CT | Champaign, Ill. | Huff Hall | B1G+ | Radio | Live Stats |
| Match 13: #23 USC | Saturday, Sept. 26 | 7 p.m. CT | Champaign, Ill. | Huff Hall | B1G+ | Radio | Live Stats |
| Buy Tickets | #15 Minnesota | #23 USC |
| Rosters | Illinois | Minnesota | USC |
| Printable Notes | Illinois |
| Series History |
Minnesota: MINN leads, 47-39-1; Last Match: MINN won, 3-0, on 10/29/2025; Streak: L11 |
| Fan Guide | Fan Guide for Attending Home Volleyball Matches |
| Parking | Map |
| New in 2026 |
Team Runout: The team will now run out of the northeast doors of Huff Hall, running in front of the north bleachers before turning left and running along the length of the west bleachers. Post-Match Autographs/Photos: Following all Illinois home wins, Fighting Illini student-athletes will sign autographs and take photos with fans in front of the west bleachers. |
| Promotions |
Minnesota USC |
| Shop Illini Gear | Online Store |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois enters Big Ten play on a four-match winning streak as it hosts #15 Minnesota and #23 USC at Huff Hall this week. The Fighting Illini will take on the Golden Gophers on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT before squaring off with the Women of Troy on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.
Both matches will stream on B1G+, while tickets are available at FightingIllini.com.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois closed its nonconference schedule with a road sweep over Arkansas State at First National Bank Arena on Sept. 20.
Heading into Big Ten play on a four-match winning streak, the Fighting Illini secured their sixth sweep of the year.
Paityn Chapman posted her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with a team-high 13 kills, 12 digs, three aces, and two blocks.
Taylor de Boer tallied double-digit kills for the fourth straight match, logging 11 kills and three blocks. Alyssa Aguayo finished her afternoon with nine kills, seven digs, and two blocks.
Kenna Phelan also registered a double-double with her 37 assists, 10 digs, and one kill. Talita Goncalves led the Illini in digs once again, totaling 18 alongside five assists. Maya Harris added eight digs and two aces, while Kristina Starostenko collected seven kills and three blocks.
OPPONENT SCOUT
The #15-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers travel to Champaign to open up Big Ten play on Thursday. The Golden Gophers went 6-2 in nonconference play and will bring a five-match winning streak with them. Minnesota has been tested by three ranked opponents thus far: They were swept by #12 Arizona State and lost in four to #17 Florida, but they did pick up a win in three sets against #13 Creighton.
Coming off of a Sweet 16 appearance and a 24-10 record in 2025, the Golden Gophers have ranked as high as #14 nationally and picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten this season. Fifth-year Mckenna Wucherer has led the Gophers' attack this season, ranking sixth in the country in kills/set with 4.8. Wucherer's 146 kills are nearly double the number of kills as the second-highest mark on her team, while she is hitting at a team-high .388 clip. She will also apply pressure from the service line as she leads the conference in aces/set at 0.75. Junior setter Stella Swenson is coming off an All-Big Ten Second Team campaign and currently finds herself fourth in the conference with 10.89 assists/set.
Keegan Cook is in his fourth season as head coach for the Golden Gophers. During his time at Minnesota, he has recorded a 68-36 record and has led the Gophers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons at the helm. He has coached 11 All-Big Ten selections during his tenure.
Saturday's opponent, #23 USC, brings a 6-4 record into Big Ten play and will face Northwestern before they arrive at Huff Hall on Saturday. The Trojans are 1-1 on the road this season and most recently swept UC Santa Barbara at home. USC is 1-3 in ranked matches this season, with its lone win coming via a sweep of #12 Arizona State in late August.
USC is coming off a season that saw them go 25-7 and finish third in the Big Ten before being ousted in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Women of Troy bring back six starters from that team, including unanimous All-Big Ten outside hitter London Wijay. After leading the team last year, she is currently second on the team with 3.06 kills/set thus far. Preseason All-Big Ten honoree Abigail Mullen leads the Trojans and is 15th in the conference with 3.39 kills/set.
The Women of Troy enter their seventh season under head coach Brad Keller. He has a 116-68 career record and four straight tournament bids in his time in Los Angeles. The Trojans were ranked #15 earlier this year, the highest mark under Keller.
SERIES HISTORY
In the all time-series between Illinois and Minnesota, the Fighting Illini are 39-47-1 against the Golden Gophers. Minnesota has won the last 11 meetings, with the Illini's win coming at home in 2017 when the Gophers were ranked seventh in the country. In matches at Huff Hall, the Illini are 19-22 coming into Thursday's match.
The winner of Saturday's match vs. USC will take the lead in the series, which is currently knotted at 4-4. The Illini are 2-0 in Huff Hall, winning the last match in 2024 in five sets.
2026 NONCONFERENCE IN REVIEW
The Fighting Illini went 8-3 during nonconference play in 2026, which included a 3-1 mark at home and a 3-2 record in true road matches.
Illinois secured its first win of the season on Aug. 30 with a sweep over Syracuse and went 2-0 at the Rice Invitational with straight-set victories over McNeese State and [RV] Rice.
Defeating Lindenwood in straight sets on Sept. 9, Illinois then split its home-and-home series with Marquette. The Illini posted three wins in the final week of nonconference action with a road win over Eastern Illinois and back-to-back sweeps against Arkansas and Arkansas State (Sept. 19-20) at the Arkansas State Invitational.
ILLINOIS EARNS FIVE-SET WIN OVER MARQUETTE
Illinois secured a hard-fought five-set win over Marquette on Sept. 13 at Huff Hall.
The Fighting Illini used a 7-0 run late in the fifth set to turn a four-point deficit into a three-point lead, helping the hosts improve to 5-3 on the season.
Illinois recorded 73 kills, its most in a match since 2019, and 86 digs, its most since 2021. Five players finished with double-digit kills, while Talita Gonçalves accounted for 26 digs, the most by an Illini since 2024.
ILLINI RECORD RESOUNDING ROAD WIN AT RICE
Illinois closed its weekend in Houston with a resounding road sweep over Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse on Sept. 6.
The Fighting Illini hit .494 as a team, their most efficient percentage since 2018, while securing their second sweep in as many days. Illinois' .494 hitting percentage ranked fourth in the nation at the time.
NEW TO THE ORANGE AND BLUE
The Fighting Illini squad brought in six new student-athletes to the squad ahead of the 2026 season, including three from the transfer portal. Junior opposite Paityn Chapman joined the team from Tennessee in January, while fifth-year middle blocker Lindsay Oldendorf returned to her home state after spending her first four seasons at San Francisco and Northern Iowa. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Talita Goncalves signed with the Illini in May after playing at San José State as a freshman.
Kristina Starostenko, a junior middle blocker from Ukraine, enters her first year at Illinois, while a pair of freshmen outside hitters from Indiana – Maya Harris and Madi Miles – are set for their first collegiate campaigns in Champaign.
TAMAS EXTENDS CONTRACT THROUGH 2028 SEASON
Illinois volleyball head coach Chris Tamas has signed a contract extension that will run through the 2028-29 academic year, which was announced on Aug. 1.
Tamas enters his 10th campaign as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2026 after being named to the position in February 2017. Across his first nine seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas owns an overall record of 170-113 (.601), including a 98-80 (.551) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference. He also has guided the Fighting Illini to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including three NCAA Regional appearances and a trip to the Final Four in 2018, while he has led the Orange and Blue to 10+ conference wins in seven of his nine seasons thus far.
Tamas earned his 150th career head coaching win when the Illini defeated Vanderbilt at the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party on Aug. 31, 2025. Illinois' ranked road win on Sept. 28, 2025, at No. 10 Purdue marked the program's highest-ranked road victory since 2021.
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.
2025 IN REVIEW
The 2025 season saw the Fighting Illini compete in their ninth campaign under the direction of head coach Chris Tamas. Illinois finished the year with a 13-16 record, including an 8-12 mark in Big Ten play.
Following the regular season, Taylor de Boer and Kenna Phelan were selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team, and Alyssa Aguayo was named to the All-Freshman Team. De Boer and Ashlyn Philpot earned spots on the AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team, while Phelan claimed Honorable Mention status.
Illinois picked up its first win of the season at the inaugural Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party, with the Illini's 3-1 victory over Vanderbilt helping Tamas secure his 150th triumph at the helm of the program. The Orange and Blue ultimately went 5-4 during nonconference play, which included true road wins over Notre Dame and Illinois State.
The Illini began Big Ten play on a positive note, going 7-1 across their first eight contests. Illinois started conference competition with a sweep over Oregon before tallying its best win over the season in a 3-1 road win at #10 Purdue. The match, played at Mackey Arena, marked the program's first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2021, while the Illini started 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2022.
After dropping a hard-fought road loss to #7 Wisconsin, Illinois rattled off five consecutive wins to move to 7-1 in Big Ten play. Four of those victories came on the road (Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State, and Northwestern) along with a five-set home victory over Michigan State.
The Illini played in front of a sellout crowd on Nov. 2 against Iowa before hosting the Huff Hall Centennial Celebration vs. #25 Penn State on Nov. 9.
ILLINI SET ATTENDANCE RECORD IN 2025
The Illini recorded the highest average home attendance in program history in 2025, averaging a program-best 3,238 fans at Huff Hall across 12 home contests.
Illinois hosted a sellout against Iowa on Nov. 2, 2025, while seven matches featured an attendance of over 3,000.
LAND OF LINCOLN
The Illini squad features three players from the state of Illinois. Vivian Campbell (Oswego), Lindsay Oldendorf (Homer Glen), and Ava Wysocki (Kildeer) all hail from the Land of Lincoln.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT SET TO DEBUT IN 2026
The Big Ten Conference will usher in a new era of collegiate volleyball this fall with the launch of its inaugural tournament Nov. 20-25, 2026, at Fishers Event Center, home of Major League Volleyball's Indy Ignite.
The top 15 teams in the regular-season standings will qualify for the tournament, bringing the nation's premier volleyball programs together in one venue for the first time.
Three matches will be played in the opening round of the tournament, followed by four second-round matches. The competition will then progress through the quarterfinals and semifinals, culminating with the championship match slated for November 25. One off day will be built into the tournament schedule.
The Big Ten regular-season schedule will decrease from 20 to 17 matches, in a single, round-robin format to account for the tournament.
