Illini volleyball off to hot start, boosted impressive freshman

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Illinois volleyball got a boost of confidence over the weekend with two wins.

However, it wasn’t just the 2-0 start to the season that sparked hope in the Illini, it was more about how those wins came. Illinois beat Bowling Green and Cincinnati in the Best Western Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio. The wins come after Chris Tamas’ team struggled away from home in 2023, finishing 6-8 in road games and 0-3 in neutral site contests.

“I was really happy with a lot of areas of our game this first weekend,” Tamas said on Monday, calling the 2024 squad one of the better serving teams he’s seen. “I felt, with both teams this weekend, we were able to put them kind of on the ropes, so to speak, coming at them from the service line fairly aggressively. We didn’t make too many errors and we were able to just keep the game within our control.”

Additionally, the two match wins came without dropping a set. Illinois swept both opponents in the Ohio tournament.

Raina Terry led the team with 24 combined kills in the matches versus Bowling Green and Cincinnati. However, true freshman Laynie Smith was impressive in her first collegiate games too. Smith notched 20 kills over the weekend.

Smith has settled in as an outside hitter on the right side after playing all over the court prior to college.

“She puts a big block but she also has a real knack for scoring and she’s able to make the correct choice at the correct time,” Tamas said. “Doesn’t hurt herself with bad swings and obviously gets a lot of kills when that opportunity comes up. She did great. You obviously always want to give credit to the passers too, and the setter for distributing the ball. But I thought she did a great job in making really good choices which is what we harp on to those pins.”

Now, the Illini look to carry forward a standard of dominance at home, which was demonstrated by a 10-3 record in Huff Hall in 2023.

“When I was an opponent on other teams I didn’t like playing in [Huff Hall], we want to keep it that way for our opponents,” Tamas said. “I just think the fans are fantastic, they’re on you, they’re loud. It’s a tough spot to play in, we want to keep it that way. To be great at home, it’s a big deal. We know the energy that gets created when we have a great run. We’ve had several of those the last eight years and we want to continue that.”

Illinois’ home opener is Tuesday at 7 p.m. vs Illinois State.

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