The Illini travel to compete in their seventh Big Ten matchup of the season against the Ohio State Buckeyes at 6 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.
Illinois volleyball currently holds a 7-9 record, 2-4 against conference opponents under head coach Chris Tamas. Its most recent outing in Huff Hall resulted in a straight-set loss to No. 1 Wisconsin. The Illini started off strong in the first set leading the Badgers 9-6 after kills rained down from graduate student middle blocker Kennedy Collins and senior hitter Raina Terry. The remaining frames confirmed the Badgers’ strength, winning 25-15 in the second set and 25-12 in the third. Once again an offensive leader for the Illini, Terry recorded 15 kills in the match as well as eight digs and padded her stats with her 139th career ace — the eighth most in Illinois volleyball history.
“We can hang with those good teams,” Terry said. “The first set we were right there, it was 22-25 and they’re number one.”
Moving on to a pair of Big Ten matchups this weekend, the Illini face Ohio State on Friday at 6 p.m. and host Rutgers on Sunday afternoon. Tamas owns a 5-4 record against the Buckeyes during his time with the Illini. Historically, Illinois sits at a standstill with Ohio State, holding a 45-45 overall record. Ohio State has had more recent success, taking the last four matches and sweeping in the last two.
Led by head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg, the Buckeyes are 6-9 on the season and 3-3 in Big Ten play. Ohio State managed to stretch its matchup against No. 13 Penn State into five sets and all nine of its losses have come against ranked opponents. Emily Londot for Ohio State is an offensive leader in the conference, ranking second with 56 total kills and 4.57 per set. Terry holds the number one spot with 61 on the season, averaging 4.62 per set.
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Illinois volleyball has rattled opponents this year with physicality at the net, recording double-digit roofs in half of its matches so far. The team’s season-high came against Michigan State with 17 total. Leading the Illini against the Badgers with four was freshman middle blocker Cari Bohm, who recorded her 10th match of the season with at least four blocks.
Fans can stream Friday night’s 6 p.m. matchup between the Illini and the Buckeyes on B1G+ and look forward to their return to Huff Hall on Sunday to host Rutgers.
@brendanrecka
