Illinois volleyball’s (18-13, 10-10) season officially came to a close following a four-set loss to No. 8 Northern Iowa (26-7,18-0) in the NCAA tournament. The loss closes the book on the storied career of graduate student outside hitter Raina Terry.
The Illini’s skid to end the season continued into the tournament. Illinois finished on a four-game losing streak, with its last win over Rutgers on Nov. 22.
This offseason will raise some interesting questions as to where head coach Chris Tamas will take the team and who will become the face of the team going forward.
A fruitful career
Illinois will lose six seniors, Terry being the most notable. The five years she gave to Illinois will be felt for a long time.
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Before the tournament, the Ohio native was unanimously named to the First Team All-Big Ten. Also, freshman middle blocker Ashlyn Philpot received an All-Big Ten Freshman Honor. Then, graduate student libero Christina Martinez Mundo received the Sportsmanship Award.
Terry finished the season with back-to-back 500-plus-kill seasons. She finished this year with 504 kills, making her No. 3 in the conference at the time of writing.
Illinois’ star player ended her career with 2,138 kills, a program best. Terry paced the team this season from the service line with 56 total aces. In total, she finished her career with 220 aces.
Terry now turns her focus to a professional career with the Columbus Fury in the Pro Volleyball Federation.
Martinez Mundo has not been an Illini for long, but her pace of play will not be forgotten. Her ability to keep rallies going was a major part of keeping the team successful throughout the year. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native only had three total kills on the year but produced 94 assists and 24 service aces.
Where to go from here?
There is now a Terry-sized question mark on the program going into the offseason. It will be almost impossible to replace what Terry did this year, but the team needs someone to hang its hat on going forward.
Next season, Illinois will return Philpot and outsider hitters junior Averie Hernandez and freshman Laynie Smith. All three players showed flashes this year and helped the team get to the postseason.
Depending on the transfers Illinois might turn to, one of these three could be the one to get a kill when the game matters most. Hernandez, who was No. 2 on the team in kills, could be that player for next season before Tamas relies on the two freshmen.
Smith and Philpot were excellent in their freshman years and are poised to take a step forward in their sophomore year; Smith was No. 3 on the team in kills with 244, and Philpot was No. 4 with 215.
A season to look back on
The program will look back on the year with mixed feelings. On one hand, it made the postseason for the first time since 2021, a huge accomplishment. On the other hand, the team completely collapsed to finish the season.
It’s not the ending the team hoped for, but since the start of the season, the team’s goal has been to extend its season. The whole year will have a melancholy feeling to it, and there might be missed opportunities to look back upon.
It will be an important offseason for the program, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out, given the several losses it took this year.
@EBrewer1172
