Illinois women’s volleyball will head to Ames, Iowa for the first tournament of the season. On Friday, Sept. 6, the women’s team will compete in the Cyclone Invitational against teams like Iowa State, Wake Forest and Toledo.
The women’s team has previously competed against Cincinnati, Bowling Green and Illinois State this season, all of which resulted in victories. With Illinois State being their most recent home game, the Illini will not return to play at Huff Hall until Oct. 3, where they will take on the Nebraska Huskers at 6 p.m.
“We’re definitely going to be in environments that are different,” said freshman middle blocker Ashlyn Philpot regarding their long absence of home games. “We’re just going to have to be able to adapt and work together to get through any hard moments.”
Athletes typically prefer playing in their home arenas where they draw more fans and are more familiar with the atmosphere. Away matches pose many challenges, but Illinois tries to look at the learning experiences when playing away.
“We’re in Iowa this next week; we leave Thursday I think, but just trying to carry that over,” said junior outside hitter Averie Hernandez. “I mean, it’s hard to play in any gym with new environments, but we try to say practice is harder than games, so we try and keep that environment when we go places. Chris has talked about how this is one of the most competitive teams he’s seen.”
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Illinois players seem positive and confident that the work they put into practice will show in these away games.
“Yeah, we’re going to obviously be playing on the road, and we’re going to be in some tough environments against some good teams,” said head coach Chris Tamas. “We’ve got to prepare for that playing in the Big Ten, but it’s still a one-match-at-a-time mentality, and we are just trying to improve what we see here.”
The Illini have been practicing since early summer and are ready to showcase their work. The women’s games are available to listen to and watch on ESPN for the Cyclone Invitational. Following the Iowa visit, they will head to the Hyatt Place Invitational, where they will compete against Dayton and Western Kentucky in Bowling Green.
