Only four games remain in the regular season for Illinois volleyball (17-9, 9-7), and the team is in a good position to make a run for the postseason.
If the team is selected for the postseason, it will mark the first time since the 2021 season that they make it. During that run, Illinois got eliminated in Round 3 against Nebraska.
Illinois has two favorable matchups this weekend, taking on Rutgers (5-22, 0-16) and UCLA (12-13, 6-10). Rutgers sits at the bottom of the conference and has not won a game since Sept. 20, while UCLA sits at No. 10.
Illinois hopes to regroup with these two games after last weekend when the team went 0-2 against No. 8 Purdue and No. 4 Penn State. Both games ended in sweep losses. Now, Illinois must rebound against both of these squads to end the year strong.
Tail of two stories
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Illinois could not ask for a better history against Rutgers: The program has only lost to them once with a 16-1 record. Head coach Chris Tamas has never lost to them, holding a 9-0 record.
In contrast, Illinois has never won against UCLA. UCLA has owned the series 11-0 but hasn’t faced Illinois under Tamas yet.
The competition against the Scarlet Knights is certainly the more winnable matchup between the two. They rank No. 16 in the conference in blocks and are second to last in team kills. On the other hand, Illinois is No. 15 in kills as a team and No. 13 in blocks.
Rutgers is led by redshirt junior outside hitter Alissa Kinkela, who currently ranks No. 21 in the conference with 292 kills on the year. The Australia native has also produced 14 assists and 18 aces.
UCLA is headed up by junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette. Leverette is the No. 8 player in kills and holds 368 on the year.
Games are numbered
It’s not just the final few games of the season for Illinois but also the final few games for graduate student outside hitter Raina Terry in her career at Illinois.
It has been nothing short of a historic season for her, as she ranked No. 1 in many of the program’s stats. Next year, the team will need to fill this massive hole by turning to one of the 13 players returning to the team.
A player like junior outside hitter Averie Hernandez will likely be an even stronger force next season. She is second on the team in kills, making 248 this season, and stands at No. 28 in the Big Ten.
The team could also turn to redshirt junior setter Brooke Mosher, who has been behind Terry in service aces with 40 on the year and is No. 6 in service aces in the conference.
Freshman impact
Two other players who could step into a leadership role next year are freshman outside hitter Laynie Smith and freshman middle blocker Ashlyn Philpot.
Philpot has stepped up on the team recently. Her performance this season took a turn after the No. 21 USC upset, where she had 17 kills. Following that game, Philpot was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Meanwhile, Smith slowed down once the team got into conference play. But having one season already against conference foes should be good for her. She started hot and was the first freshman since Jacqueline Quade to get double-digit kills in a game.
Game one against Rutgers is on Friday, Nov. 22, at 4 p.m. Then, game two against UCLA is on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. Both games will be played on Big Ten Plus and broadcast live on the radio at 93.9 FM or 1400 AM WDWS.
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