<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=26hplU_0w2yODP900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=26hplU_0w2yODP900" width="1200" height="628" >Illinois volleyball is looking to break a two-year NCAA Tournament drought, and early metrics seem to favor their odds despite a 1-3 start to Big Ten play.Last week, the season's first <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/ncaa-womens-volleyball-rpi">RPI rankings</a> were released, and Illinois (9-5, 1-3 Big Ten) came in at No. 26. It's still very early for the results-based rating system to matter, but it does prove that Illinois' 14-game slate to open the season has been one of the toughest in the nation. Of Illinois' five losses, four come to opponents ranked above them in the RPI: Nebraska (1), Oregon (13), Washington (20), and Dayton (24). However, against those four opponents, the Illini won only one set."It's always a grind, the players know that," Illini coach Chris Tamas said after a win over Northwestern last weekend. "There's no coulda shoulda wouldas. In dropping those matches, you'd like to have a couple sets won if not a whole match won, but that's the way it goes. It would be easy to be down after the last three games, but it's on to the next, and that's the mentality."The Illini continue their Big Ten campaign this week with road trips to Michigan (Friday, 6 PM, BTN+) and Michigan State (Saturday, 3 PM, BTN). Michigan State (7-8, 0-4 Big Ten), but Michigan (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten) should provide a tough test for the Illini.Michigan is a program that has, in recent years, trended toward the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. Wolverines head coach Erin Virtue, an Illinois player from 2001-2005 and Team USA Olympic assistant, has the Wolverines out to their best start since 2018 when they made the Sweet Sixteen. Last season, Virtue's first in Ann Arbor, Michigan went 7-22. The Wolverines enter the weekend No. 37 in the RPI.Michigan's sophomore opposite/outside hitter Valentina Vaulet is currently second in the Big Ten in service aces with 40. She's on pace to break last year's number of 73. "They've been executing really well, so we've gotta do some stuff to disrupt them," Tamas said. "They've got one of the top servers in the conference, so a lot of it is gonna be about trying to shut her down or at least contain her a little bit from the passing perspective, and getting swings on the ball."<h2>Hernandez tops former team</h2>Illinois' win over Northwestern on Sunday wasn't just their first win after dropping three straight, it was their first Big Ten win of the season. For junior outside hitter Averie Hernandez, it was a victory that came with mixed emotions. "I have so much love and respect for all those girls," Hernandez said during her post-match interview. "Some of them are my best friends to this day, and I hope they have a great season. Hernandez transferred to Champaign from Evanston this past offseason and has hit the ground running. She's currently second in the team in kills with 139. "Obviously it's bittersweet because we do still have a relationship," Hernandez said. "I wish the best for them always, and like, right after this I'm probably gonna go hug them and say hi."<h2>Service game improves</h2>A glaring difference between the 3-0 loss to Nebraska and the 3-1 win over Northwestern was the service game. After giving up 11 service errors against the Cornhuskers, the Illini gave up 13 against the Wildcats, but Tamas' high-risk, high-reward service approach gave his team an upper hand on Sunday.While the Illini did have more errors and more aces than the Wildcats in their win, they made the most of their non-error and non-ace services. A sideout in volleyball is when you win a point that begins with the opponent's serve. The Wildcats had a sideout on 58 percent of Illinois serves, much lower than the 69 percent that the Illini managed on Northwestern serves."We've always been in attack mode since we've been here," Tamas said of his staff's approach to serving. "I'm not gonna change that anytime soon, just based on what we've seen. [The players] have to become comfortable doing that. Half the players are returners who have been here before, and I've got another half who are still getting used to my verbiage. Like, 'No, it's okay, you can really go for it,' right? They're doing a really good job understanding that day by day and they're getting better at it match by match."At the center of the high-risk, high-reward approach is redshirt junior setter Brooke Mosher. Her serve, unlike her teammates, is a topspin jump serve, which sees her toss the ball in the air about ten feet behind the line and meet it in the air, hitting it almost as she would a spike. "You're pretty much tossing yourself a set from 30 feet that you've gotta hit pretty hard over the net, right?" Tamas said of Mosher's serve. "So the margin for error is fairly small."Forcing the opponent to play out of system to start a rally is a valuable asset in volleyball, one that Tamas says is something he and his staff were ahead of the curve on."If you were to just lob balls in there just to get it in, every team's gonna score on you at 80 percent plus," Tamas said. "When you look across the conference, I think we were one of the first ones to do it back in 2017, 2018, and now it's kind of just an acceptable thing that everyone's doing."Mosher's role has evolved not just throughout her Illinois career but over this season. The team brought in South Dakota State transfer Raegen Reilly, whose addition doesn't just bring depth to the position but also allows Mosher to play in different roles.Mosher playing as an outside only comes once per six rotations, and her 55 kills on a .255 hitting percentage, which both rank fifth on the team, have made her arm an avenue for Tamas to turn to when other attacking options have struggled. When asked about the addition of Reilly and how it's changed her game," Mosher said. "I think she kind of helps my game if anything. I went through that [my] redshirt freshman year being an outside, so I think I've been using that skill from earlier in my career."</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

'On to the next': Illinois volleyball looking to gain B1G momentum with Michigan trip

Illinois volleyball is looking to break a two-year NCAA Tournament drought, and early metrics seem to favor their odds despite a 1-3 start to Big Ten play. Last week, the season's first RPI rankings were released, and Illinois (9-5, 1-3 Big Ten) came in at No. 26. It's still very early for the results-based rating system to matter, but it does prove that Illinois' 14-game slate to open the season has been one of the toughest in the nation.

'On to the next': Illinois volleyball looking to gain B1G momentum with Michigan trip

Comments / 0