Illinois women’s volleyball has been showing out on their home court these past few weeks. The women are on a five-game win streak after beating Maryland this past Sunday in Huff Hall in Champaign.
Illinois easily took home the win this weekend in a 3-0 match. Maryland ranks first in the Big Ten in service aces, earning 150 this year. The Terrapins play with a high-risk, high-reward mentality, but this time, it did not work out in their favor.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Cari Bohm was asked about competing against the best-serving team in the conference.
“We are lucky in our gym, we have a lot of really good servers,” Bohm noted. “Every single one of our servers puts up a really good serve, so every single day in practice, we are preparing for tough serving teams.”
Illinois’ preparation came in clutch for this quick win against Maryland. But that might not be enough for their upcoming competition. Illinois struggled with service errors this weekend and recorded eight in total.
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With Illinois on an impressive win streak, head coach Chris Tamas spoke about the team’s success and what he has learned from this season.
“I have learned we have a good amount of resilience,” Tamas stated. “It is tough in this conference because everyone is pretty good. Today, we got tested on several runs and service runs. And last week against Michigan State, their record doesn’t show up but they are a good team too. Everyone is good.”
Illinois now stands at 13-5 and 5-3 in the conference. The women will face Nebraska this Friday in Lincoln. The Illini have already competed against the Cornhuskers this season and lost in three straight sets. Now, the team will have its hands full for the next road game.
“Tribute to the players, just staying with it mentally because it is not easy to do,” Tamas declared. “I tell the team all the time. If it were easy, everyone would just go do it. But it is not.”
Illinois has a tough schedule coming up. Next, Illinois plays Nebraska on the road, and soon Wisconsin and USC come to Champaign. Graduate student outside hitter Raina Terry touched on how she maintains a positive attitude throughout the season.
“I think we just remind each other to stay up and keep working. We are a pretty positive team,” claimed Terry. “We focus on that all five years that I have been here. We have worked on staying positive and getting rid of that negativity.”
With plans to go pro, Terry continues to have an impressive fifth season at Illinois. She recorded 15 kills, four blocks and five digs against Maryland and has consistently led the team in kills this season.
