Chambana Sun

Illinois volleyball head coach Chris Tamas has announced the addition of Raegen Reilly to the team for the upcoming season. Reilly will join newcomers Kenzie Cogan, Christina Martinez Mundo, Ashlyn Philpot, and Laynie Smith.

Reilly, who hails from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, previously played for South Dakota State and was part of Kairos Elite Volleyball Club. As a junior at South Dakota State, she led her team with 642 assists and an average of 6.00 assists per set. She also registered seven double-doubles and achieved a season-high of 52 assists against Kansas City on September 23, 2023.

In her sophomore year, Reilly set a new program record for single-season assists with 1,307 and averaged 9.98 assists per set. During that time, she played in 131 sets for the Jacks, setting a record for sets played in a season during the current scoring era. In addition to her assist records, she ranked second on her team with 27 ace serves in 2022.

As a freshman at North Dakota State University, Reilly participated in 29 out of the team's 30 matches. She tallied impressive statistics with 788 assists, 210 digs, 30 blocks, and recorded nine double-doubles throughout the year.

During high school, Reilly was a four-year letterwinner who earned all-conference and all-state honors from 2018 to 2020. Her accolades include being named Class AA South Dakota Miss Volleyball as a senior in 2020 and leading her high school team to an unbeaten season culminating in a state title.

Coach Chris Tamas expressed his enthusiasm about Raegen joining Illinois: "The things that stood out in Raegen's process were her level of competitive fire and understanding of being a great teammate on a high-level team." He added that she possesses several skill sets beneficial to the team.

Reilly herself shared why she chose Illinois: "I chose Illinois because it truly feels like a family."