Starting a season 3-0 is something Illinois volleyball has accomplished just twice since 2018. Illinois’ combined record between those two seasons is 54-16, and while the tally is slightly skewed by one of the greatest NCAA volleyball seasons ever (32-4), the trend is one that Illinois would love to repeat in 2023.
This Friday, the Illini will have an opportunity to add another such season to their repertoire with a 5 p.m. match against Wichita State at Huff Hall.
Despite dropping its first set of the season, Illinois has been on an absolute tear since that point. The streak currently sits at six straight sets for the Illini, which have resulted in comfortable 3-1 and 3-0 early-season wins. In both outings, junior hitter Raina Terry led the Illini in kills with 19 and 13 respectively. Terry has been generally stuffing the stat sheet on top of the ridiculous kill totals; racking up two aces, eight blocks and 17 digs across her two appearances thus far.
The history between Illinois and Wichita State is limited, with just two decade-apart meetings prior to Friday night. The most recent was a 3-0 sweep for the Illini in 2015. While incredibly sparse meetings are not a viable indicator of Wichita State’s current level of play, its record might be. Like Illinois’ last opponent, Valparaiso, an early season invitational event has given Wichita State more opportunity on the floor.
Through three matches at the Under Armor Challenge, the Shockers came out with a record of 1-2. The losses were at the hands of Notre Dame and Texas Tech while the lone win was over Houston Christian.
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While the additional match may lend Wichita State a hand in experience and growth as a unit, Illinois’ more restful start has been an intentional step to being overworked.
“Right now the biggest thing about staying fresh is trying to take your time off in between games but still getting enough reps to get better at what you need to get better at,” said head coach Chris Tamas. “The way that we laid out our schedule gives us a little bit of opportunity to rest between matches. It can also make it more difficult to work on certain items, but we were able to do that in the timeframe between NIU and Valpo (Northern Illinois and Valparaiso).”
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