The Illini have made up for missing last year’s NCAA tournament and then some.

Illinois’ 21-10 overall season has spoken volumes over last year’s record of 17-14, and its 12-8 record in the Big Ten says even more. The Illini have climbed their way up from last season’s 10-10 conference record to a more advantageous spot in the Big Ten.

Over the past 25 years, there have been at least six Big Ten teams selected to the tournament, and this year is no exception. With eight teams advancing, Illinois will take on University of Hawaii at the University of Washington during the first round of the tournament on Friday night.

“We knew the draw was going to be tough regardless,” said head coach Chris Tamas. “Everyone in the tournament now is a good team, and you expect that.”

Although Illinois hasn’t faced Hawaii in the last four years, the opponent isn’t unfamiliar to Tamas. Hawaii hails from the Big West conference where Tamas coached at Cal Poly and UC-Riverside. He said the matchup is one to be reckoned with.

“(They’re) always good volleyball players, always decent size, and they’re historically a good program,” Tamas said. “Again, we’ve been tested in the Big Ten. We’re preparing a first round battle and yesterday and today for it, so I think we’re excited for the matchup.”

Hawaii is 20-7 on the season and 14-2 in the Big West. In the NCAA, the team is sitting at No. 37. Over the past four years, Hawaii has boasted a winning percentage well above .700 and notably went 29-2 in 2015.

To beat this year’s band of Rainbow Warriors, the Illini are going to have to stay consistent on offense and defense, Tamas said.

“It’s always the goal to put it all together every game, and we’re getting more consistent at that as the year goes on,” Tamas said. “We’ve also been able to win in many different ways, which is good to see. Sometimes our offense isn’t going, so can our defense do their best to pick up the slack?”

On offense, the Illini have out-killed their opponents 1,539 to 1,480 and averaged 13.6 kills per set. Illinois also produced 1,429 total assists to their contender’s 1,402. According to Tamas, balancing offense and defense has been one of the major turning points for the team this season.

“We made some changes with some passing, a little more focus on the offense portion of it,” Tamas said. “Getting our middles more involved, being able to serve maybe a little bit tougher, in my opinion, goes into winning matches and playing against the tough competition in the Big Ten.”

Last year, Illinois barely squeaked by opponents with 1,427 kills against 1,425. After the 2017 regular season, the team registered 494 total errors while last year the Illini tallied 523.

It’s no secret that Illinois is beginning to pull away from opponents offensively, but defense is more of a focal point moving towards Friday’s match, Tamas said.

“Hawaii has a good middle blockers and a couple good outside hitters,” Tamas said. “They’re a balanced attack, and they have good floor defense.”

Junior Ali Bastianelli said Hawaii’s style of play might be the product of the Big West conference itself. With teams colliding against unfamiliar opponents, anything can happen, she said.

“Every region kind of has a different style to them,” Bastianelli said. “We do know a couple of things about their hitters and their tendencies, and we do know that their defense is going to be pretty scrappy.”

Tamas said Hawaii is bound to bring similar styles of play as some of the Big Ten teams they faced during the bulk of their season.

“They’re scrappy defenders a lot like Michigan was,” Tamas said, “the way Ohio State was — which we just played. They’ve got a couple good middle blockers and (they’re) a Big Ten style team and we’ll prep the best we can.”

Despite preparing for the match up Monday and Tuesday in practice, the Illini are approaching the match like any other.

“Our goal at the beginning of the year is to beat Gonzaga, and we did that,” Tamas said. “Ever since then it was one match at a time, and you put together lots of good matches and put yourself in a position to get you into the tournament, and it still remains the same.”

@Meghan_Rest

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