2021 Volleyball Roster
Jersey Number 3
Taylor Kuper
- Position:
- Defensive Specialist
- Class:
- Senior
- Height:
- 5-8
- Hometown:
- Lenexa, Kan.
- High School:
- Olathe Northwest HS
Senior - 2021
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Played in all 34 matches and all 127 sets as the Illini libero.
- Ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 70th in the NCAA with a team-leading 4.55 digs per set mark after totaling 578 digs, while also posting a .951 reception percentage after committing just 40 errors in 817 attempts.
- Ranked second on the team and in the Big Ten and 14th nationally with 52 aces on the season for a 0.41 aces per set average.
- Tallied 11 20-dig matches, while adding 137 assists for the Illini.
- Totaled 49 digs for 6.13 digs per set and added 15 assists and three aces in the NCAA First & Second Rounds, highlighted by notching 26 digs, tying for the third-most digs in an NCAA Tournament match in program history vs. West Virginia (12/3/21), before recording 23 digs, nine assists and three aces at No. 7 Kentucky (12/4/21).
- Turned in a match-high 20 digs - her 16th-career 20-dig match - to go along with five assists and two aces at Michigan (11/24/21).
- Recorded 21 digs – her 15th career match with 20 or more digs – to go along with a team-high three aces vs. Indiana (11/12/21).
- Turned in a team-high 19 digs at No. 13 Penn State (10/30/21).
- Came within two digs of equaling her career-high with a match-high 27 digs to go along with three aces at Rutgers (10/29/21).
- Posted a team-high 17 digs, while also notching nine assists vs. Michigan (10/23/21).
- Registered 26 digs vs. No. 6 Purdue (10/6/21).
- Tallied a match-high 25 digs in a win at No. 4 Purdue (10/1/21).
- Came within one assist of her second-career double-double with 28 digs, nine assists and two aces at Iowa (9/22/21).
- Posted 10 digs and equaled a season-high with four service aces at Illinois State (9/17/21).
- Collected a match-high 18 digs against Missouri (9/17/21), with her 14th dig of the match marking her 1,000 career dig as she becomes the 16th Illini to reach that milestone.
- Registered 67 digs at the Bluejay Invitational to average 6.09 digs per set, while adding 10 assists and six service aces.
- Equaled her career-high with 29 digs – her 10th-career 20-dig match – to go along with six assists and two aces at No. 19 Creighton (9/11/21).
- Led the team with 21 digs, her eighth-career 20-dig match against Colorado (9/4/21).
- Totaled 44 digs for a 4.00 digs per set mark at the Panther Invite.
- Posted 17 digs and four aces in a five-set win vs. UCSB (8/27/21).
Junior - 2020-21
- AVCA Northeast All-Region Honorable Mention
- All-Big Ten First-Team
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (4/5)
- Became the first defensive specialist or libero to earn All-Big Ten First-Team honors in program history after a breakout season in her first year in the libero jersey
- Played in all 18 matches and saw action in all 71 sets in the conference-only 2020-21 shortened season
- Led the conference and ranked fifth nationally with 40 service aces and was eighth in the NCAA with a Big Ten-leading 0.56 aces per set average
- Ranked fourth in the league with 313 digs and a 4.41 digs per set mark, while also registering a .966 reception percentage after committing just 17 errors in 502 attempts
- Notched six 20-dig matches and one double-double on the season, while adding 84 assists for the Illini
- Had a standout night with 21 digs, six assists and an ace at No. 8 Purdue (4/2), before totaling 26 digs and six assists in a five-set win over the ranked Boilermakers (4/3). .
- Equaled a career-high five aces to go along with 10 digs in a win over Indiana (3/27).
- Totaled 18 digs in a five-set win vs. Maryland (3/20/21).
- Tallied a career-high 29 digs to go along with nine assists and three aces at No. 5 Minnesota (3/12/21).
- Registered back-to-back career-highs of 23 digs in both matches vs. Ohio State (2/19-20/21), while adding three aces in both matches as well.
- Posted her first-career double-double with a career-high 10 assists and a team-high 14 digs at Penn State (2/6/21).
- Came just two assists short of her first-career double-double with a team-high 15 digs to go along with a career-high eight assists and two service aces against No. 1 Wisconsin (1/30/21).
- Recorded her second-career 20-dig match with 20 digs on the night, to go along with four aces in the season opener at Iowa (1/22/21).
Sophomore - 2019
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Played in all 30 matches, starting eight contents
- Ranked fourth on the team with 249 digs and second on the roster with 37 service aces, while adding 27 assists
- Totaled 10 digs to go along with two service aces in a win at Ohio State (11/24).
- Served up three aces in a win at Maryland (11/22).
- Posted four-straight matches with double-digit digs, including 12 digs at No. 7 Minnesota (10/20), 10 at No. 8 Penn State (10/23) and 13 in a win over Ohio State (10/26).
- Registered back-to-back double figure digs with 11 digs in a win at No. 17 Purdue (10/6) and 13 against No. 6 Minnesota (10/9).
- Equaled a career-high five service aces to go along with seven digs in a win over LMU (9/21).
- Notched back-to-back double digit dig outings with 12 against UCF (9/14) and 11 win a win over No. 7 Marquette (9/14).
- Registered a career-high five service aces in a win over No. 7 Marquette (9/14).
- Reached double figures with 11 digs to go along with two kills against No. 16 Washington (9/6/19).
- Totaled 16 digs in a season-opening win at No. 19 Tennessee (8/30).
Freshman - 2018
- Fighting Illini Female Newcomer of the Year Finalist
- CSU Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Played in all 36 matches as a freshman, starting 14 as a defensive specialist.
- Ranked third on the team with 282 digs, while also leading the team with 44 service aces.
- Totaled 51 digs during the NCAA Tournament, including finishing the season with three-straight double-digit dig matches with 12 against Marquette (12/7), 10 versus Wisconsin (12/8) and 14 against Nebraska (12/13) in the National Semifinal.
- Tallied back-to-back double-digit dig contests in the final week of the regular season with 12 at Michigan State (11/21) and 11 vs. Purdue (11/24).
- Registered three-straight double-digit dig outings, including 17 digs to go along with six assists and an ace in a win over No. 7 Penn State (11/10).
- Led the Illini with a match-high 13 digs in a win at Maryland (11/4).
- Posted a career-high 25 digs in a win at No. 9 Nebraska (10/27).
- Turned in nine digs in a win at No. 8 Wisconsin (10/13).
- Reached double figures in digs for the first time with 10 digs in a win at No. 16 Purdue (9/21), before notching a season-high 15 digs at Indiana (9/23).
- Named to the CSU Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the Illini on the baseline with seven aces to go along with 18 digs in the three matches.
- Tallied a season-high nine digs vs. Bowling Green (9/7).
- Notched a season-high four service aces vs. Cleveland State (9/7).
- Recorded a season-high three service aces in a win over No. 21 Colorado (8/31).
- Made her Illini debut in Colorado, playing in all 13 sets and starting two matches.
- Posted seven digs and two aces in her first match in an Illini jersey against UNCW (8/24).
High School
- Kansas 2017-18 Gatorade State Volleyball Player of the Year
- Earned 2017 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Under Armour Third-Team All-America accolades
- PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace
- Led her Olathe Northwest High School team to back-to-back Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) 6A State Championships as junior and a senior, earning All-State Tournament Team honors following both seasons
- Also helped lead ONHS to a fourth place finish as a sophomore and a runner-up place as a freshman
- Named KSHSAA First-Team All-State and Sunflower League Player of the Year as a senior
- PrepVolleyball.com's 'Leading Candidate for Kansas Player of the Year' as a senior
- Two-time KSHSAA Second-Team All-State and First-Team All-Sunflower League as a sophomore and junior
- Named to PrepVolleyball.com's Second-Team Defensive Dandy list in 2017 and Fifth-Team Defensive Dandy and Soph79 lists in 2016
- Earned Sunflower League Honorable Mention and Honorable Mention All-State Academic Team accolades as a freshman
- PrepVolleyball.com Club Honorable Mention All-American in 2015.
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