Illinois Travels to #22 Tennessee for Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week
August 31, 2026 | Volleyball
PREVIEW
| Match 3 // Illinois Travels to Take on #22 Tennessee on Tuesday | |
|---|---|
| Match 3 | Tuesday, Sept. 1 | 6 p.m. CT | Knoxville, Tenn. | SEC Network | Radio | Live Stats |
| Rosters | Illinois | Tennessee |
| Printable Notes | Illinois |
| Series History |
Tennessee: ILL leads, 6-2; Last Match: ILL won, 3-2, on 9/1/2019; Streak: W5 |
| Shop Illini Gear | Online Store |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois is set for its first road match of 2026 as the Fighting Illini will travel to take on Tennessee on Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn. The match is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will air nationally on SEC Network.
The contest is part of the inaugural Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week, which will feature all 18 Big Ten programs and all 16 SEC institutions.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois secured its first win of the 2026 season with a sweep against Syracuse on Sunday afternoon at Huff Hall.
The Fighting Illini posted a .400 hitting percentage while allowing zero aces in their three-set victory over the Orange.
Paityn Chapman continued her strong start to her Illini career with 16 kills, eight digs, and three blocks while swinging at a .441 clip. Taylor de Boer tallied 13 kills of her own and added three digs and a block.
Alyssa Aguayo amassed double-digit digs for the first time in 2026, recording 10 digs, six kills, two blocks, and an ace. Talita Goncalves totaled five digs and eight assists, while Kenna Phelan finished just shy of a double-double with 29 assists, nine digs, and two aces.
True freshmen Maya Harris and Madi Miles both registered their first collegiate kills during the contest.
OPPONENT SCOUT
After going 20-8 and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 2025, Tennessee enters the week with a 3-0 record following sweeps over Colgate, Morehead State, and Fairfield to start the 2026 campaign.
The Volunteers feature 11 newcomers on their 2026 roster, including five transfers: OH Kennedi Rogers (SMU), L/DS OH Nia Hall (South Carolina), S/OPP Jalyn Stout (Coastal Carolina), L/DS Raegan Burns (Kansas), and S Mallory Matheny (Indiana).
Rogers has already proven to be a reliable offensive weapon for the Vols, averaging 5.83 kills/set through her first three matches with the program. Stout ranks second in kills and holds a 3.22 kills/set average, while fifth-year setter Caroline Kerr continues to run the offense with 11.00 assists/set.
Illinois junior OPP Paityn Chapman returns to Tennessee after spending the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Lady Vols.
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois holds a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to the programs' first meeting in 1975. The Illini are 2-0 under head coach Chris Tamas.
The sides are squaring off for the first time since the 2019 season, when the teams started the year with a home-and-home series. Illinois won both matches in five sets, including a dramatic reverse sweep on the road over the #19-ranked Vols on Aug. 30, 2019.
NEW TO THE ORANGE AND BLUE
The Fighting Illini squad brought in six new student-athletes to the squad ahead of the 2026 season, including three from the transfer portal. Junior opposite Paityn Chapman joined the team from Tennessee in January, while fifth year middle blocker Lindsay Oldendorf returned to her home state after spending her first four seasons at San Francisco and Northern Iowa. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Talita Goncalves signed with the Illini in May after playing at San José State as a freshman.
Kristina Starostenko, a junior middle blocker from Ukraine, enters her first year at Illinois, while a pair of freshmen outside hitters from Indiana – Maya Harris and Madi Miles – are set for their first collegiate campaigns in Champaign.
TAMAS EXTENDS CONTRACT THROUGH 2028 SEASON
Illinois volleyball head coach Chris Tamas has signed a contract extension that will run through the 2028-29 academic year, which was announced on Aug. 1.
Tamas enters his 10th campaign as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2026 after being named to the position in February 2017. Across his first nine seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas owns an overall record of 163-111 (.595), including a 98-80 (.551) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference. He also has guided the Fighting Illini to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including three NCAA Regional appearances and a trip to the Final Four in 2018, while he has led the Orange and Blue to 10+ conference wins in seven of his nine seasons thus far.
Tamas earned his 150th career head coaching win when the Illini defeated Vanderbilt at the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party on Aug. 31, 2025. Illinois' ranked road win on Sept. 28, 2025, at No. 10 Purdue marked the program's highest-ranked road victory since 2021.
Illinois experienced one of its most successful seasons ever in 2018 under Tamas, who was subsequently named AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year. The Illini made the program's fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals as the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament, riding a 17-match win streak into the Final Four and ending the season ranked No. 3 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
The team registered a 32-4 overall record and finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 17-3 mark, with the 32 victories ranking tied for fourth-most in school history. Under Tamas' leadership, the Illini collected a number of individual honors, highlighted by AVCA All America First Team selections in Jordyn Poulter and Jacqueline Quade – the first time in program history Illinois had multiple first-team honorees in a season – as well as a Third Team selection in Ali Bastianelli.
Poulter and Bastianelli, who also garnered All-America Third Team honors in 2017, were also named Senior CLASS Award finalists and CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees. The trio also collected unanimous All-Big Ten First Team accolades, with junior Ashlyn Fleming named to the second team and Poulter garnering the Illini's first-ever Big Ten Conference Co-Setter of the Year honor.
2025 IN REVIEW
The 2025 season saw the Fighting Illini compete in their ninth campaign under the direction of head coach Chris Tamas. Illinois finished the year with a 13-16 record, including an 8-12 mark in Big Ten play.
Following the regular season, Taylor de Boer and Kenna Phelan were selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team, and Alyssa Aguayo was named to the All-Freshman Team. De Boer and Ashlyn Philpot earned spots on the AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team, while Phelan claimed Honorable Mention status.
Illinois picked up its first win of the season at the inaugural Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party, with the Illini's 3-1 victory over Vanderbilt helping Tamas secure his 150th triumph at the helm of the program. The Orange and Blue ultimately went 5-4 during nonconference play, which included true road wins over Notre Dame and Illinois State.
The Illini began Big Ten play on a positive note, going 7-1 across their first eight contests. Illinois started conference competition with a sweep over Oregon before tallying its best win over the season in a 3-1 road win at #10 Purdue. The match, played at Mackey Arena, marked the program's first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2021, while the Illini started 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2022.
After dropping a hard-fought road loss to #7 Wisconsin, Illinois rattled off five consecutive wins to move to 7-1 in Big Ten play. Four of those victories came on the road (Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State, and Northwestern) along with a five-set home victory over Michigan State.
The Illini played in front of a sellout crowd on Nov. 2 against Iowa before hosting the Huff Hall Centennial Celebration vs. #25 Penn State on Nov. 9.
ILLINI SET ATTENDANCE RECORD IN 2025
The Illini recorded the highest average home attendance in program history in 2025, averaging a program-best 3,238 fans at Huff Hall across 12 home contests.
Illinois hosted a sellout against Iowa on Nov. 2, 2025, while seven matches featured an attendance of over 3,000.
LAND OF LINCOLN
The Illini squad features three players from the state of Illinois. Vivian Campbell (Oswego), Lindsay Oldendorf (Homer Glen), and Ava Wysocki (Kildeer) all hail from the Land of Lincoln.
ORANGE AND BLUE ON NATIONAL TV
Illinois is slated for eight nationally televised regular-season matches, including six on Big Ten Network, one on FS1, and one on SEC Network.
The Fighting Illini's nonconference matches at Tennessee (Sept. 1; SEC Network) and Marquette (Sept. 11; FS1) mark the team's first televised contests of the season.
The Orange and Blue will battle Oregon (Oct. 4) and Purdue (Oct. 11) on the road on Big Ten Network. Four home matches at Huff Hall will also feature on BTN: Wisconsin (Oct. 8), Michigan State (Oct. 15), Northwestern (Oct. 29), and Ohio State (Nov. 1).
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT SET TO DEBUT IN 2026
The Big Ten Conference will usher in a new era of collegiate volleyball this fall with the launch of its inaugural tournament Nov. 20-25, 2026, at Fishers Event Center, home of Major League Volleyball's Indy Ignite.
The top 15 teams in the regular-season standings will qualify for the tournament, bringing the nation's premier volleyball programs together in one venue for the first time.
Three matches will be played in the opening round of the tournament, followed by four second-round matches. The competition will then progress through the quarterfinals and semifinals, culminating with the championship match slated for November 25. One off day will be built into the tournament schedule.
The Big Ten regular-season schedule will decrease from 20 to 17 matches, in a single, round-robin format to account for the tournament. Television designations and ticket information will be distributed at a later date.
