Chambana Sun

Illinois will continue its conference volleyball schedule with a road match against seventh-ranked Wisconsin on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT in Madison. The game, held at the UW Field House, will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.

The Fighting Illini enter the matchup riding a three-game winning streak and are coming off their first ranked victory of the season, having defeated No. 10 Purdue in four sets on Sunday. This win improved Illinois' record to 2-0 in Big Ten play and 7-4 overall. It was also their first win over a top-10 opponent since 2021 and marks the first time they have started conference play 2-0 since 2022.

Ashlyn Philpot contributed 12 kills in the win against Purdue, including securing the final point of the match. She finished with a .429 hitting percentage, four blocks, and delivered the team's last three kills. Alyssa Aguayo and Auburn Tomkinson each recorded double-digit kills as well, with Aguayo adding five digs, four assists, and a block, while Tomkinson posted a career-high five blocks and one dig.

Taylor de Boer led Illinois in kills with 17 and added both a block and a dig. On defense, Taryn Kirsch achieved a career-high 21 digs along with five assists. Kenna Phelan recorded her fourth double-double of the season by posting 39 assists and ten digs.

Wisconsin comes into Thursday's contest on an eight-match winning streak. The Badgers began their Big Ten campaign with sweeps over Rutgers and Iowa and have won all five home matches this season. Their only loss was to fifth-ranked Texas earlier in the year. Wisconsin has secured three ranked wins so far this season against Kansas, Georgia Tech, and Florida.

Returning for Wisconsin are seven players from last year's Elite Eight team in the NCAA tournament, including All-Big Ten honorees Carter Booth (middle blocker) and Charlie Fuerbringer (setter). Fuerbringer leads the conference with an average of 11.35 assists per set—second best nationally—while transfer Mimi Colyer ranks third nationally in kills per set (5.19) and points per set (5.77).

Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield is now in his thirteenth season leading the program and recently celebrated his 600th career coaching victory after Wisconsin's sweep against Iowa.

Thursday's match will mark the 100th meeting between Illinois and Wisconsin since their series began in 1975; both teams hold identical records of 49-49-1 against each other. Wisconsin has won the last ten meetings between them; Illinois' last victory came on December 8, 2018.

Historically, Illinois holds a record of 44-173 when playing top-10 opponents; their most recent win was last week at Purdue.

Kenna Phelan was named Big Ten Setter of the Week after leading Illinois to wins over Oregon and Purdue last weekend. "She tallied 27 assists while making seven digs and tacking on an ace and a block in the Illini's against the Ducks," according to team information provided. In her first career Big Ten road match at Purdue she "recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 39 assists and ten digs."

Several newcomers have made immediate impacts for Illinois this season: Freshman Alyssa Aguayo has averaged nearly three kills per set across eleven starts; fellow freshman Taryn Kirsch has led defensively as libero; redshirt sophomore Auburn Tomkinson transferred from Texas to become a regular starter; setter Kenna Phelan joined from Florida State.

Head coach Chris Tamas continues to lead Illinois volleyball after reaching several milestones—including his recent 150th career victory—and guiding multiple NCAA Tournament appearances since taking over as head coach.

This season features nine new players joining Illinois' roster as well as changes among staff: Meredith Schamun joined as associate head coach following previous coaching roles at Penn, Villanova, Tulane, UCF, and Rice University; Hannah Hashbarger became director of operations after two seasons at Regis University.

Looking back at last year’s campaign: Illinois finished with an overall record of eighteen wins to thirteen losses (10-10 Big Ten), returned to NCAA Tournament play but fell to Northern Iowa in round one. Key departures include Raina Terry—who became program leader in kills before being drafted by Columbus Fury—but returning standouts such as Ashlyn Philpot earned All-Freshman Team honors during her debut season.

Illinois’ matches will appear nine times on national television throughout this season.