Illinois volleyball currently sits at its halfway point of the year and comes off a win over Michigan State. The victory marks the 11th of the year and third in conference play up to this point.
This season began with Illinois on a fiery run with a 6-0 start. This was the program’s best start since the 2018 season when the team went 14-0 to begin the year.
One of the most impressive wins during this stretch was Illinois’ win over Iowa State during the Cyclone Invitational after being down two sets, and they went on to defeat every team participating.
This hot streak did not last, however. Soon the team hit a bump in the road with its first loss coming against No. 22 Dayton. Then they rebounded against Western Kentucky in a four-set victory.
Next, Illinois went 1-1 when it entered the Libby Invitational. The Missouri Tigers took down the Illini in a five-set match, but the team rebounded against the Lipscomb Bisons.
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The biggest rough patch occurred when they took on two of the three top teams in the Big Ten: No. 2 Nebraska, No. 11 Oregon and Washington. The team competed against Oregon and Washington in the five weeks they played on the road.
The biggest game Illinois saw up to that point was No. 2 Nebraska, which ended up being the annual Stuff Huff game. The game, however, did not fall in Illinois’s favor as they fell in straight sets.
The team has not gone away quietly. After losing its first set to Northwestern, Illinois racked off six straight-set wins to help set them back up to .500 against Michigan State.
Michigan State had something to play for against Illinois since they were still searching for their first conference win of the season. Illinois made sure it had to continue that search, but it was not easy, as the win took five sets.
A lot of the team’s success has come from their returning captain, graduate student outside hitter Raina Terry. She currently ranks fourth in the conference for kills. Her most recent outing saw her put up 25 kills.
Terry is not doing this alone, either. On the other side, junior outside hitter Averie Hernandez ranks top 30 in the Big Ten in the same category. Hernandez was picked up this offseason from the team’s in-state rival, Northwestern.
“Learning how to keep the intensity of the practice and bring that for matches is what our biggest concern should be,” Hernandez said.
The team itself has been fighting hard to stay in games and to get victories out. Michigan State took the first and third sets, but Illinois finished with wins in the second, fourth and fifth sets in the end.
“Every season kind of formulates a little differently, and you have an idea based on what you see at practice, and then you have an idea based on what you see in performance,” head coach Chris Tamas said. “As time goes on, you’re going to want to see those performances uptick every single time.”
Illinois will continue at home this Wednesday against Indiana.
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