New Fighting Illini volleyball head coach Chris Tamas has announced the 2017 spring schedule, with matches against Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, SIUE and Illinois State on tap for April.
The Illini open their spring slate on April 1, facing off against Big Ten foe Wisconsin at 3 p.m. CT in the Great Lakes Sports Center in Aurora, Ill. The Badgers finished the 2017 season ranked fifth in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 poll after advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight.
“We are excited to announce our 2017 spring schedule,” said Tamas. “We have been working hard in the weight room and in the practice gym and look forward to our competition dates. We open against a familiar foe in Wisconsin, which will be good test to see where we are at and to see what improvements we have made by the start of April. It also provides a venue that will be packed full of young volleyball fans and will give a chance to show the future of our sport what Big Ten volleyball looks like up close. Another plus is the number of alumni and fans in the area that we are excited to play in front of and we hope to have a strong Illini presence.”
UI next heads to Carbondale, Ill., to take on Southern Illinois in Davies Gym at 6 p.m. on April 8, before traveling to Normal, Ill., for matches against SIUE at 10 a.m., and Illinois State at 11 a.m., on April 15 in Redbird Arena.
The Illini then return home to Huff Hall for their final spring match of the season on April 22, hosting the Salukis at 1 p.m. to wrap up the spring schedule.
“Playing against Illinois State and SIUE will allow us to play two teams with different styles of play and to see adjustments that we can make between matches,” said Tamas. “Both Illinois State and SIUE are coming off of good seasons and I think it is great whenever you can stay local and play against good, tournament quality teams.”
“Besides playing another tough in-state opponent, our home-and-home series with Southern Illinois gives us a chance to measure some improvements between those weeks. We are also very excited to announce that we will be hosting a match at Huff for the last match of our spring. I know fans have been eager to see some of the changes we will be making and we hope to showcase that in front of the Orange and Blue faithful. The team has been working extremely hard and I am proud to be their coach and test our play against these four teams.”
Illinois concluded the 2016 season with a 17-14 record and a 10-10 mark in Big Ten action, finishing in a tie for seventh and will return nine letterwinners from last season’s team, including AVCA Honorable Mention All-America and All-Big Ten honorees Jordyn Poulter, Ali Bastianelli and Brandi Donnelly.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow the team on Twitter (@IlliniVBall), Instagram (@IlliniVBall) and like Fighting Illini Volleyball on Facebook.
| 2017 Illinois Volleyball Spring Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| April 1 | Wisconsin | Great Lakes Center | Aurora, Ill. | 3 p.m. |
| April 8 | Southern Illinois | Davies Gym | Carbondale, Ill. | 6 p.m. |
| April 15 | SIUE | Redbird Arena | Normal, Ill. | 10 a.m. |
| April 15 | Illinois State | Redbird Arena | Normal, Ill. | 11 a.m. |
| April 22 | Southern Illinois | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. | 1 p.m. |
News courtesy of Illinois Athletics.
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