Sep 24, TBD
Clark (MA) vs WPI
Sep 24, TBD
United States Coas vs M.I.T.
Sep 24, TBD
Wellesley College[ vs Salve Regina
Sep 24, TBD
Springfield vs Wheaton
Sep 24, TBD
Emerson College vs Babson College
Sep 24, TBD
Smith College vs Mount Holyoke Coll
Sep 28, TBD
Mount Holyoke Coll vs Salve Regina
Sep 28, TBD
Smith College vs Clark (MA)
Sep 28, TBD
Emerson College vs WPI
Sep 28, TBD
M.I.T. vs Springfield
Sep 28, TBD
Wellesley College[ vs Wheaton
Sep 28, TBD
Babson College vs United States Coas
Oct 1, TBD
Springfield vs Clark (MA)
Oct 1, TBD
Salve Regina vs M.I.T.
Oct 1, TBD
Wheaton vs United States Coas
2018 Creighton vs Illinois | Big Ten Women's Volleyball

Coach's Take: Chris Tamas Previews Illinois-Creighton

Coach's Take: Chris Tamas Previews Illinois-Creighton

Eight consecutive victories (three of which came over ranked teams), zero losses, a Top 10 ranking, and—finally—a weekend at home for Illinois.

Sep 13, 2018 by Megan Kaplon
Coach's Take: Chris Tamas Previews Illinois-Creighton

Eight consecutive victories (three of which came over ranked teams), zero losses, a Top 10 ranking, and—finally—a weekend at home. 

Things look pretty good for Illinois volleyball.

In head coach Chris Tamas’ second season at the helm, Illinois returned all but two major contributors from its 2017 squad that made it to the NCAA tournament round of 16. He’s got Jordyn Poulter, perhaps the best setter in the country, not to mention Ali Bastianelli, last year’s No. 2 blocker in the NCAA, and opposite Megan Cooney, the reigning co-Big Ten Player of the Week and MVP of the Cleveland State Invitational Tournament.

With a balanced attack and nerves of steel, the Fighting Illini have jumped out to an 8-0 start, including knocking off then-No. 25 Colorado State, No. 21 Colorado, and No. 13 Washington. 

Heading into 2018, Tamas knew he’d have to replace graduated libero Brandi Donnelly, but her heir apparent, Morgan O’Brien, had already gained some valuable experience in the role last year when Donnelly missed seven matches with a knee injury.

He also had to fill in middle Tamara Omazic’s spot after she transferred to Missouri. In total, four players transferred away from Illinois over the offseason, but only Omazic and defensive specialist Annika Gereau saw significant action last year. Omazic’s replacement in the starting lineup, 6-4 Pacific transfer Ashlyn Fleming, has flourished, hitting .352 with 34 kills and recording 35 blocks, trailing Bastianelli by only five, and freshman Taylor Kuper has filled in nicely for Gereau. 

“I knew we have a good core,” Tamas said. “There were some unknowns. We lost some positions due to transfer and were able to pick one up last minute, and then we have a freshman playing as well. When you have that, you know you have a shot at doing well, but you don’t know how quickly those new positions are going to integrate in.”

At the Colorado State tournament over opening weekend, Illinois faced another challenge in having to move some pieces around to fill in for outside hitter Beth Price, who was out with a shoulder injury. Cooney played outside, and senior Blayke Hranicka filled in on the right. The Fighting Illini barely escaped from Fort Collins without a loss. 

“The challenge was ‘come out of here alive,’” Tamas said. “Win three sets by two points and let’s get after it.”

The Illini required five sets to defeat both Colorado State and Northern Colorado, and Colorado State set a new attendance record the night of the Illinois match, packing 7,745 fans into Moby Arena, but Tamas credits his team’s collective veteran status for being able to weather the storm.

“A lot of people say you need talent, and that’s great but I think the experience goes a long way,” Tamas said. “Not just for the fact that they’ve seen everything, but they’ve been in the emotional moments, too, where it’s the five-setter, the big games in front of however many thousands of fans we play in front of.”

Since opening weekend, only Washington has managed to take a set off Illinois, now with Prince back in the lineup.

Six-foot-two setter Poulter is likely the key to this Illinois team’s early success, and people have started to notice. Despite being one of the top recruits in her class out of high school, Poulter flew under the radar her first couple of years at Illinois. Last year, however, she upgraded her All-American status from Honorable Mention to Third Team, and over the summer was the only player with collegiate eligibility remaining to make the Team USA roster for the Pan American Cup.

“Part of the reason why I took the job was because of [Poulter],” Tamas said. “When I played, I was a lot like her. I was a bigger, physical setter. I’m like, ‘we’re going to learn how to use you better.’ She’s a weapon up there. She can touch 10 1/2 feet and dump a ball from up there.”

In order to better utilize Poulter as an offense threat, passing had to get better, and that’s been a focus of Tamas’ since arriving in Champaign. The results can been seen on the stats sheet. Last year, Poulter almost doubled her kills total compared to her freshman year, tallying 109 and hitting .369. So far this year, she’s averaging .72 kills per set, hitting .340 and has quarterbacked the team to a .302 hitting percentage. 

“[Poulter’s] one of the best workers I’ve been around,” Tamas said. “She’s a good setter, she’s big, she’s physical, but there’s some other areas of her game that she had to improve and she takes those to heart. You’re like, ‘hey, you need to work on this,’ and she’ll change it within like two reps.”

With the Illini on the road for the first three weekends, Tamas joked that his team has won in every time zone. This weekend, they will play their first matches of the season at home in Huff Hall, welcoming Northern Iowa, Lipscomb, and No. 10 Creighton, Illinois’ highest-ranked opponent yet.

Creighton’s 2018 record includes a win over No. 20 Kentucky (which was ranked No. 5 at the time of the match) and tough five-set losses to No. 16 USC and No. 4 Nebraska. The Bluejays’ only straight-set loss came at the hands of Northern Iowa over opening weekend, a team they’ll see again this weekend.

Tamas, who faced Creighton plenty during his time as an assistant at Nebraska, said the key for Illinois will be slowing down Creighton’s dynamic and powerful outsides Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth.  

“You’re not going to stop them, but you're going to hope to try to contain them a little bit,” he said. 

Against Nebraska, Kloth had a match-high 26 kills, hitting .400. Winters had 18. On the season, the pair has shared the offensive load pretty equally, with Kloth totalling 151 kills and Winters with 139. Marshall transfer setter Madelyn Cole has taken over the reins of the offense from graduated Honorable Mention All-American setter Lydia Dimke. 

But Tamas likes his team’s odds on the matchup, citing the strength of his right-side blockers Poulter and Cooney. 

Win or lose this weekend--and of course, one shouldn’t ignore the challenge posed by Lipscomb or Northern Iowa, both ferocious competitors in their own right--the Illini look poised to reclaim the kind of respect and prominence they haven’t had since making the Final Four in 2011.

“We have a really good team dynamic going,” Tamas said. “I don’t want to say ‘we get along,’ because that’s not the goal, for us to get along, but we really do. We really enjoy being around each other and we enjoy working hard together.”

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