Illinois Fighting IlliniSpring 2021 Overall Record: 7-11
Conference Record: 7-11 (7th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last Tournament Appearance: 2019 -- First Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Chris Tamas (5th season at Illinois)
Record at Illinois: 78-40
Returning Starters:Diana Brown - R-JR, 6'0 S
Kennedy Collins - JR, 6'3 MB
Megan Cooney - SR+, 6'4 OH/RS
Rylee Hinton - JR, 6'2 MB
Taylor Kuper - SR, 5'8 DS
Raina Terry - SO, 6'3 OH
Bruna Vrankovic - R-JR, 6'2 OH/RS
Departures (* denotes starter):Mica Allison - 6'1 S/RS (Grad transfer to Florida Atlantic [Beach])
Emily Hollowell - 6'3 OH/RS (Grad transfer to Ball State)
Alyssa Eske - 5'5 DS (Transfer to Coastal Carolina [Beach])
Incoming Players:Caroline Barnes - FR, 5'11 DS/L
Sarah Bingham - FR, 6'3 MB/RS
Brooke Mosher - FR, 5'11 S
Jessica Nunge - JR, 6’2 OH/RS (Transfer from Florida State)
Rebecca Sakoda - FR, 5'8 DS/L
Spring 2021 Recap:After finishing on the good side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in 2019, the following Spring 2021 season was a little tougher for the Illini.
Things started out okay with a pair of four-set road wins over Iowa. The journey got more difficult, though, and Illinois dropped four matches to Wisconsin and Penn State despite pushing the latter to five sets.
A home series against Ohio State offered the same story as the Penn State series. Illinois battled to a fifth set in a rematch against the Buckeyes but couldn't get the job done. The Fighting Illini squandered several opportunities to push the Huskers to the brink in Huff Hall and suffered back-to-back sweeps.
The next ranked team to get challenged by Illinois was the Golden Gophers. The Fighting Illini went up 2-1 in Minneapolis but, again, failed to finish. They were swept the following night.
Matches against Maryland and Indiana resulted in a quick rebound, though it wasn't always easy. To wrap up the year, Illinois traveled to Purdue and finally ended up on the winning side of a close battle. The Fighting Illini knocked off the Boilermakers in the season finale to finish 7-11.
The Lineup:Illinois underwent quite the lineup journey in the spring.
The Fighting Illini came out in a 6-2 to begin the year with
Diana Brown and
Kylie Bruder as the setters.
Rylee Hinton and
Kennedy Collins had the middle spots mostly locked down.
Taylor Kuper was the libero.
The pin situation was insanely complicated, especially at opposite. I mean, who
didn't play on the right pin for this team? Better yet, Illinois' early-season 6-2 made a bunch of different players take swings on both pins. Bodies were everywhere!
So, it would take a mere Dickens novel to explain all the different pin permutations that Illinois went through this spring. We initially saw
Megan Cooney and
Ellie Holzman playing all the way around on the left.
Raina Terry was an opposite, and so was
Mica Allison. But, again, everyone was getting plenty of swings on both pins. Positions are overrated.
Bruna Vrankovic emerged at opposite in week two. Then, Holzman tore her ACL in the second match against Wisconsin. Shuffle things around again. Terry's new home is now on the left.
Fast forward to the Nebraska series, and the 5-1 is here. Brown is leading the way at setter, but the Illini are still trying to find their go-to opposite. Emily Hollowell gets a few looks.
Alyssa Eske is the DS for whoever the opposite is on any given day.
Illinois eventually settled on Vrankovic at opposite, and she shined in a six-rotation role for a few matches late in the year. Unfortunately, there are even more questions about her health heading into the fall season.
So, let's get into that fall season. There will still be some serious depth concerns on the pins, and that's why Illinois has brought in Florida State transfer
Jessica Nunge. All the health questions will probably lead to Cooney moving back to the right. Nunge and Terry are your left sides. Collins is pretty secure at M1. There's a chance that Hinton could get pushed at M2 by
Kyla Swanson or
Maddie Whittington, provided that everyone is healthy there. True freshman
Caroline Barnes could carve out a role at defensive specialist, but you have to question if there's even a DS role available with Illinois' pin lineup. Serving subs will still be prevalent.
It's a solid starting corps for Illinois. Just don't let anyone get hurt, please.
The Schedule:The non-conference schedule is decent. Opening weekend won't knock your socks off, but this is finally the year that Washington and Colorado come to Champaign. Kingsley might sneak into the match at Creighton.
Conference play beckons:
The Verdict:Let's see where this team goes with a little bit of stability this fall. Hopefully.
Illinois showed up last spring looking disjointed, discombobulated, or whatever other dis- prefixed word you fancy. The system and personnel didn't feel right. Worse yet, the Illini were facing elite teams week after week.
This team will greatly appreciate just having a non-conference season. Work things out. There are still some question marks with this squad, but at least you don't have to work through all the bumps against a gauntlet of top ten foes right away.
The Fighting Illini will put a lot on the shoulders of their pin hitters. These outsides will have to consistently deliver with a variety of unknowns and injuries behind them on the depth chart. Passing hasn’t always been sharp, either, so they’ll also be asked to put away some tough balls.
Projections for Illinois sound similar to another team on this preview series. If things go well, Illinois should be battling on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. It will require some steady play, good health, and maybe an upset here or there. This is a talented team with a pretty good ceiling, but you can’t always expect clean volleyball from this group. In the end, though, the fall season will hopefully make up for some of the misery from the spring.
Acknowledgementsexit237a 
