Following six roster additions this offseason, Illinois volleyball looked to the beginning of its 2023 season. The first step in setting the record straight after the Illini’s 15-15 season was a road meeting with Northern Illinois. The two programs have a considerable amount of all-time history against one another, with Illinois winning 17 of their 21 total meetings, but have not met since 2005. Despite the lack of recent matchups, the Illini have won the last 10 matchups for a win streak that reaches all the way back to 1975.

The first set foreshadowed heavy roles from graduate blocker Kennedy Collins, senior hitter Raina Terry, junior hitter Kayla Burbage, redshirt sophomore blocker Sarah Bingham, redshirt sophomore setter Brooke Mosher and redshirt freshman blocker Cari Bohm. Despite the mix of youth and experience from Illinois’ lineup, the first set proved to be a struggle. 

Northern Illinois never quite ran away with the set, ultimately winning 25-22, but Illinois’ struggles were reminiscent of its preseason exhibition loss to Eastern Illinois a couple of weeks ago (3-1). A change had to come quickly, or else Illinois’ record would begin to feel the consequences. 

Thankfully, the rust wore off quickly. The first sign was that through 22 serves in the second set, the count was even rather than Illinois being at a disadvantage. From that point on though, Illinois truly began to perform to the best of its ability. Three consecutive points for the Illini followed the 11-11 standstill, which eventually blossomed into a 4-6 point lead that lasted for the remainder of the set. Illinois evened the match with a 25-19 victory, looking to start its trip home after four sets. 

Hard set on establishing a pattern, the Illini kept the score even for much of the first half of the third set before exploding shortly after. A 10-10 knot was where the downpour began, with Illinois earning four consecutive points to take a commanding advantage moving forward. The lead hovered around six until the 22-16 mark, where the Huskies rallied to make it a 22-19 affair before ultimately falling 25-22. 

Illinois was fully in the driver’s seat with a 2-1 set lead, but Northern Illinois refused to go down easy. The Huskies jumped out to a 5-1 early lead, a problem that bloomed to an eventual 12-6 deficit for the Illini to overcome. But just eight serves later, all of Northern Illinois’ work had been erased thanks to a 7-1 swing for Illinois.

The set was more or less even from there, but when Illinois won the race to 20 it was clear that there would be no need for a fifth set. Ultimately separating for a score of 25-21, Illinois claimed a 3-1 victory overall and increased its win streak against Northern Illinois to 11. 

Of the nine Illini who saw the floor today, all nine played in all four sets. Across that time, Terry led the squad with 19 kills while freshman defensive specialist Lily Barry had a game-high 27 digs and three aces. Collins led the team in total blocks, with one solo and five assists. Head coach Chris Tamas and his squad will look to continue their hot start in Illinois’ home debut this Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT against Valparaiso.  

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