Illini Volleyball Set for Oregon’s Nike Invitational

Orange & Blue head to Eugene, Oregon to face host Ducks, Belmont and Saint Mary’s

NIKE INVITATIONAL

The Fighting Illini volleyball team continues its nine-match road swing with its third non-conference tournament of the season, the Nike invitational, hosted by the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., on Sept. 9-11 in Matthew Knight Arena.

Saint Mary’s and Belmont will open the three-day tournament, facing off at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, before the Illini and the host Ducks go head-to-head at 9 p.m.

The Illini returns to action in Saturday’s opening match against Belmont at 1 p.m. The Bruins then face Oregon at 5 p.m., before Illinois takes on Saint Mary’s in the Saturday evening finale.

Oregon and Saint Mary’s then wrap up the tourament on Sunday with a 2 p.m. contest.

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The Illinois volleyball team enters this weekend’s tournament with a 3-1 overall record against the teams it will face.

The Illini will have the most experience against the host Ducks as they have faced Oregon three times in the program’s history and hold a 2-1 edge in the all-time series. The team have not played since 2008, where the Illini won 3-2 in Champaign on Aug. 30. Oregon took the first meeting between the two schools back in 1984, 2-0, in Provo, Utah, but the Illini evened the series with a 3-1 win in 1987.

Illinois has faced Saint Mary’s just once in program history, with the Orange and Blue taking a 3-0 sweep of the Gaels on Aug. 27, 2011 in Provo, Utah.

This weekend’s match between Ilinois and Belmont will be the first between the two schools. The Bruins are one of three schools the Illini will play for the first time this season, including Missouri State, whom the Illini played in the Illini Classic, and Omaha, who the Illini will face next weekend at the Billiken Invitational.

ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS

As a team, the Illini rank in the top 40 in the NCAA in total blocks and blocks per set, with UI coming in at 29th in blocks per set with a 2.82 average. The Illini sit 37th in the nation with 62 total blocks. The Illini also rank 69th in the NCAA with a .250 hitting percentage.

Individually, sophomore middle blocker Ali Bastianelli has continued her strong play at the net and ranks 12th in the NCAA with 35 total blocks and is 14th with a 1.59 blocks per set avergage.

Sophomore setter Jordyn Poulter also sits in the top 60 in assists and assists per set, with her 230 helpers ranks third the conference and 67th in the nation. She sits 59th in the NCAA in assists per set with an 10.45 average.

KID BLOCK PARTY

Sophomore middle blocker Ali Bastianelli set a program record with 14 block assists against No. 9 Stanford on Saturday night. The previous mark of 13 block assists was achieved on four occasions, twice by Johannah Bangert and once each by Anna Dorn and Kellie Hebeisen.

POULTER LEADING

Sophomore setter Jordyn Poulter turned in a career performance against Colorado in last week’s Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge with a career-high nine kills on 13 swings and no errors for a .692 hitting percentage to go along with 45 assists, seven digs and four block assists.

EVEN SET MAGIC

The Fighting Illini are undefeated in even sets this season, holding a perfect 9-0 mark in the second and fourth sets. The Illini are 5-0 in the second set and 4-0 in the fourth set.

ILLINI CLASSIC RECAP

For the third-straight season, the Fighting Illini earned the Illini Classic title after finishing the opening weekend with a 2-1 record. Illinois posted wins over Arkansas (25-19, 25-13, 25-22) and Xavier (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21), before falling to Missouri State in five sets (22-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-15, 10-15). With three teams tied with a 2-1 record, the Illini earned the title on a set-win percentage tiebreaker.

Senior middle blocker Katie Stadick was named Most Valuable Player after registering 33 kills on 60 swings for a .433 hitting percentage and 14 blocks in the three matches. Sophomore setter Jordyn Poulter and senior opposite hitter Naya Crittenden joined her on the all-tournament team. Poulter averaged 11.17 assists per set after totaling 134 on the weekend, while also turning in nine kills and a .350 hitting percentage, 17 digs and nine blocks. Crittenden posted 25 kills and a .267 hitting percentage, including a career-high 15 kills against MSU, as well as nine blocks and three digs.

UI ACHIEVES CAREER MARKS AT ILLINI CLASSIC

The Illini had a number of players hit career-highs in the season-opening Illini Classic. Senior Michelle Strizak posted her first career double-double with 14 kills and a career-high 10 digs to go along with a career-high two assists against Xavier on Saturday morning, while classmate Naya Crittenden turned in a career-high 15 kills against the Bears later that night.

Senior defensive specialist Danielle Davis also tied a career-high with three assists against Missouri State.

2016 SCHEDULE CONTINUES TO CHALLENGE

The Fighting Illini volleyball consistently plays a demanding schedule year in and year out, with UI playing the most challenging schedule of any team in the NCAA in 2013, followed by the 12th-most difficult slate in 2014, including playing eight matches against teams that finished the season ranked in the top eight.

Last season was no different as the Illini played the 21st-most difficult schedule in the nation, with 10 of the final top 25 teams on its schedule, including six NCAA Regional teams, two Final Four squads and twice against 2015 National Champion, Nebraska.

The Illini continues that streak in 2016, with the Orange & Blue taking on nine teams that appear in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll – including five in the top 15 – in No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 9 Stanford, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 Penn State, No. 18 Colorado, No. 20 Purdue and No. 22 Michigan. Additionally, Illinois has or will face three teams that are receiving votes in Michigan State, Oregon and Missouri State.

ILLINI RANKED PRESEASON NO.14

When the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released its preseason poll on August 10, the Fighting Illini volleyball team once again made an appearance, coming in at No. 14 in the season’s opening top-25 poll.

Illinois returns 10 letterwinners, including a majority of its starters from its 2015 NCAA Sweet 16 team, including Big Ten All-Freshman Team honorees Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli, as well as junior libero Brandi Donnelly and hard-hitting seniors Katie Stadick,Michelle Strizak and Naya Crittenden. The Illini will also welcome in the No. 22-ranked recruiting class, including a pair of Top 100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces in Kaylin Korte and Jacqueline Quade, as well as NC State transfer Blayke Hranicka.

Illinois’ highest opening rank came on Sept. 6, 1988, when the AVCA placed the Illini at No. 2 on the first week of the season following their first-ever trip to the NCAA Semifinals.

Illinois appeared in the top 25 of the AVCA’s first poll every season from 1986 to 1994, resurfaced at No. 14 in 1999 then at No. 19 in 2002 and 2004. The Illini have been ranked in the preseason top 25 in all-but-one season under Hambly, while receiving votes in 2013, with five top-10 projections in his eight seasons. The 2016 preseason ranking marks the Illini’s 19th year beginning the schedule in the top 25.

2016 RECRUITING CLASS RANKED NO. 22

The 2016 Illinois volleyball recruiting class has garnered a top-25 ranking, coming in as the No. 22 recruiting class in the nation as rated byPrepVolleyball.com.

The ranking continues the Illini recruiting success, with the 2016 class including a pair of Top 100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces in outside hitters Kaylin Korte (No. 35) andJacqueline Quade (No. 86), as well as defensive specialists Annika Gereau and Caroline Welsh and defensive specialist/setter Kendal Kavanaugh. Korte and Quade were both also named to Volleyball Magazine’s Fab 50 list, featuring the top seniors in the class of 2016.

Quade made a splash in her Illini debut on Aug. 26-27, registering double figure kills in all three matches at the Illini Classic, as well as securing her first career double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs against Missouri State on Saturday night. Gereau made appearances in all three matches, recording three digs, while Welsh delivered a service ace in her first attempt to go along with four digs.

While not apart of the 2016 signing class, redshirt-freshman Beth Prince also made her Illini debut during the Illini Classic after being sidelined with an injury in 2015.

ILLINI DEBUT NEW STAFF IN 2016

It is an entirely new staff that joins head coach Kevin Hambly on the sidelines this season as assistant coaches Jason Mansfield and Erin Lindsey, director of volleyball operationsJenni Bolduc and volunteer assistant coach Austin D’Amore were hired on during the offseason. Along with the new coaching staff, Misao Tanioka joins the team as the Illini’s athletic trainer.

OPENING NIGHT SUCCESS

The Illini have had tremendous success on opening night, going 33-10 all time in the first match of the season. Illinois has lost just one season opener since 1999, starting the new millennium with a 12-match winning streak from 2000-2011, before dropping the 2012 lid-lifter at Dayton. Illinois swept Arkansas at the Illini Classic to open the 2016 campaign.

Illinois is even more successful in home openers, going 37-6 all time in the first home match of the year. The Illini have not lost a home opener in over two decades; after falling to No. 18 New Mexico on Sept. 9, 1994, the Orange and Blue have won their last 21 straight home openers. Since making the move to Huff Hall in 1990, Illinois is 26-1 in the first home match of the season.

POULTER TABBED PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN

Illinois sophomore setter Jordyn Poulter was named Preseason All-Big Ten, as voted on by the Big Ten coaches. It was the first preseason honor of her career. Poulter made an immediate impact for the Illini in her freshman season, starting 29 of 32 matches at the setter position and earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. She directed the Illini offense with 1,088 assists and recorded eight double-doubles on the season, highlighted by career highs of 59 assists and 21 digs vs. No. 4 Minnesota and a 34-assist, 10-dig performance in an NCAA Tournament first-round victory over Southern Illinois.

Poulter was also named to the B1G/Pac-12 All-Tournament Team and was a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and Big Ten Setter of the Week selection. Following her breakout rookie campaign, she was selected as the Fighting Illini Newcomer of the Year.

HAMBLY’S REGIONAL RUN

Under the leadership of head coach Kevin Hambly, the Illinois volleyball program has seen a run of success in postseason play as the Illini have advanced to an NCAA Regional every season with the exception of one in his previous seven seasons at the helm. The Illini have advanced to the NCAA Regionals in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015, and also made  run to the National Championship match in 2011.

HAMBLY PRODUCES ALL-AMERICANS

Illinois has 28 All-America honors among 17 players in school history. Nine of those players earned 16 honors with Kevin Hambly on staff. Three of the five First-Team All-Americans have come under Hambly (Laura DeBruler, Colleen Ward, Michelle Bartsch), while recent graduate Jocelynn Birks was a three-time All-American, finishing her 2015 senior campaign as an Honorable Mention selection, to go along with a 2013 Third Team honor with a Second Team award in 2014.

Courtesy of Illinois Athletics.