The No. 9 Illinois volleyball team will begin its postseason quest Friday with the start of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.

The Illini had one of the program’s best regular seasons in recent memory, finishing with a 24-7 record.

Because of the great start to the season, fans, as well as the team, have high expectations heading into the tournament.

The team has had the bulk of its success at home, posting a 12-1 record.

This is great news for the Illini because they will be hosting their first two opponents of the tournament at Huff Hall on Friday and on Saturday, if they can advance.

Throughout the season, the team has knocked off five top-25 teams, with its best win coming against No. 5 Penn State in University Park, Pa. The Illini went 16-4 in arguably the best conference in the nation.

They will face Murray State on Friday, who finished 26-5, and is coming into the game after being crowned champion of the Ohio Valley Conference with three straight wins in the conference tournament.

With this said, the competition Murray State has faced throughout the season is weak compared to that of the Illini and they have no wins against ranked teams.

If the Illini are to win their first round game, they will face the winner of Iowa State and Western Kentucky.

The Illini should outmatch all three of these teams, and the added advantage of playing at Huff Hall should make it an easy start to the tournament.

After the first two tournament games, things will really start to get fun for the Illini. If Illinois wants to reach its first Final Four since 2011, it will have to get through No. 8 Florida and No. 1 Stanford. Stanford defeated the Illini earlier this season, but it took five hard-fought sets.

The Gators have also faced weaker competition then Illinois, but are currently riding a 20-game win streak and only have three losses.

If the team is fortunate enough to get past Florida, it could have an opportunity to get revenge against Stanford in the Elite Eight.

It definitely won’t be an easy path, but the Illini have shown this season that they have what it takes to win it all.

Whether it be knocking off top teams, winning on the road, or stringing wins together, the team has been able to do it.

Like I said following the Stanford loss on Sept. 7, this Illini team is as deep and as experienced as any Illinois squad has ever been. This will go a long way in allowing the Illini to advance far in the tournament.

Kieran is a sophomore in Business. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @KHampl95.