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Oct. 2—CHAMPAIGN — The first extended weekend of Big Ten play defined best-case scenario for Illinois volleyball.

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Knocking off Minnesota and Southern Cal at Huff Hall in the span of roughly 48 hours gave the Illini back-to-back ranked wins for the first time since sweeping Tennessee in a home-and-home series in 2019.

Illinois' wins against the Gophers and Trojans were also the first consecutive ranked wins in Big Ten play for the Illini since beating Wisconsin and Michigan in 2018.

The reward for that early Big Ten success? Two more matches against ranked teams this weekend. Illinois (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) will start its Pacific Northwest swing with No. 22 Washington (11-0, 2-0) at 9 p.m. Friday in Seattle before facing No. 17 Oregon (10-2, 1-1) at 3 p.m. Sunday in Eugene, Ore.

Then two more next week: No. 6 Wisconsin (8-4, 2-0) in Champaign and at No. 10 Purdue (8-3, 1-1).

"You throw a stone, you're going to hit a ranked team in our conference," Illinois coach Chris Tamas said. "The conference doesn't go lightly on you. It's always tough in the Big Ten."

Illinois has experienced just how difficult life in the Big Ten can be during Tamas' tenure as coach. Conference play is where the majority of the Illini's ranked matchups have come the last nine-plus seasons.

Including last weekend's wins against Minnesota and USC and an early September loss at Tennessee, the Illini are 29-74 in ranked matches under Tamas. Nearly half of those wins came in the 2018 season that included 12 ranked wins to spur on a Final Four run.

This year's team already has more ranked wins than the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 teams managed. One apiece the past four seasons yielded a 4-33 record in those high-level matches.

The tangible change this fall? Newcomers Paityn Chapman, Talita Goncalves and Kristina Starostenko have all carved out prominent roles in the Illinois rotation, providing more firepower (Chapman at opposite, Starostenko at middle blocker) and steady back-row play (Goncalves at libero).

Chapman, a Tennessee transfer, leads Illinois in kills with 163 while playing six rotations. Starostenko ranks fourth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage at .447, and Tamas called the 6-foot Ukrainian the best front-of-setter the program's had in his time as coach. Goncalves, who took over solo libero duties after the season opener, is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. The San Jose State transfer is second in the league in digs per set at 4.16.

"One of the things I'm most impressed with with them is when you take all those newcomers, it's hard to get them to gel very quickly," Tamas said, adding this year's team experienced the opposite. "You see a lot in practice, but it's not always the same when you get under the bright lights and play when everything counts. I think we are an ultimate team sport where you have to have everyone pulling their weight. If there's a weak link in that armor, it's going to be tough to come together and win these big-time matches. ... Our team culture has been great for a while, in my opinion. It's always about getting the right personnel in and giving them the freedom to go play."

How this Illinois team has taken that freedom on the court and turned it into success the first month of the season is a less tangible, but no less important, change for the program.

It's a message former Illini setter Jordyn Poulter delivered to the team when she was back on campus for her induction into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame last month.

Tamas said he saw his team internalize Poulter's message and "take ownership of what they're doing and how they go about their business right now."

The level of play Illinois showed in its wins against Minnesota and USC didn't surprise Tamas. He'd seen them perform that well in practice consistently the last two months. The results when it mattered took a little time to catch up.

Illinois dropped its season opener in five sets to Cincinnati, victims of a reverse sweep. Then Tennessee — the only ranked nonconference opponent — was dominant in its three-set victory. The Illini's trip to Marquette played out in similar fashion. Fending off another potential reverse sweep in the immediate rematch with the Golden Eagles provided momentum into the final week of nonconference play. Three more wins kept it rolling into Big Ten play.

"A lot of people can thrive in those (practice) environments," Tamas said. "There's not a ton of pressure. The worst thing they could do is run or do a couple push-ups. We see it all the time in practice. They just have to trust they're able to do it in the game.

"You get the freedom to go for it. If you take a big swing and happen to miss by a little bit, that's the risk you've got to end up living with. But we've got to try score those big-time points in big-time moments, and that's what we're seeing so far."

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