Nine days after winning its season opener against Loyola, the Illinois volleyball team returns to Huff Hall this weekend in the State Farm Illini Classic.

In addition to the Illini, Eastern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago and Rice will be in the tournament.

Illinois-Chicago and Rice will play in the tournament opener on Friday at 5 p.m., and the Illini will face the Panthers in the nightcap, 30 minutes after the completion of the opener at approximately 7 p.m.

If the Illini win their first game on Friday, they will advance to the tournament championship on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The consolation match will take place at 4:30 p.m.

Illini head coach Don Hardin said his team has not done scouting on Eastern Illinois for the weekend, instead they just plan to focus on their game.

“We’ve had a pretty good week of practice, knock on wood everything stays healthy,” he said. “We’ve looked a little bit at Rice, but we’re still so focused on us. I think next weekend will be the first time we focus on opponents.”

The players agree.

“I think we’re just going to go out there and give it our all,” said redshirt freshman Kayani Turner. “We’re going to go out there and play as if they are the top team in the nation.”

The Illini are currently 8-1 on the season, and with the exception of last Friday’s loss to No. 11 Louisville, have won the first game of each match this season.

The Illini have been led throughout the non-conference season by senior Rachel VanMeter, who currently ranks second in the nation at 6.84 kills per game. VanMeter’s hot hitting has also sky-rocketed her up Illinois’ all-time kills list, where she recently moved into eighth place with 1,202 career kills.

Sophomore setter Stephanie Obermeier is also off to a hot start, and is third in the Big Ten at 13.2 assists per game.

VanMeter and Obermeier’s great play have come at just the right time for Hardin, who is still trying to solidify his lineup which has been ravaged by injuries.

Turner, who was recently added to the starting rotation, said the team has really progressed in the past week and should come ready to play against the Panthers tomorrow.

“We’ve really been working at getting more comfortable, more than anything else,” she said. “We all know how to play; we just need to be comfortable with our positions.”

Hardin expects the same.

“We’ve really been playing better, and playing at home should help energize the girls.”

Hardin credits Illinois’ great home court advantage for that.

“I really hope we get a great student turnout again,” he said, referring to last week’s match against Loyola. “That was a phenomenal student turnout and we would love to get that again. It would be a blast.”