Big Ten Schedule Announced for Fighting Illini Volleyball

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference revealed the 2023 volleyball schedule on Wednesday afternoon. 

League play for Illinois will once again include 20 games with the Illini playing seven teams both home and away and six teams once (three home and three road).

Here is the breakdown of Illinois’ opponents for the 2023 Big Ten schedule:

Home & Away – Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Ohio State, Rutgers, Wisconsin

Home Only – Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State

Away Only – Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska

The Fighting Illini begin league play on the road with a match at Indiana on Sept. 20. Three-straight matches at Huff Hall follow with Michigan State (Sept. 24), Penn State (Sept. 29), and Iowa (Sept. 30) on deck.

A midweek match at Purdue on Oct. 4, follows the homestand before the team returns to Champaign to face Wisconsin on Oct. 7. A trip to Columbus, Ohio, is up next for Illinois as the team is set to face Ohio State on Oct. 13, before hosting Rutgers on Oct. 15.

The Orange and Blue then head to Maryland and Rutgers for back-to-back matches on Oct. 20 and Oct. 22, respectively. 

Another three-match homestand awaits Illinois following the road trip with Indiana (Oct. 25), Purdue (Oct. 28) and Northwestern (Nov. 1) coming to town for contests at Huff Hall. The squad then hits the road for three-straight matches, battling Wisconsin (Nov. 4), Iowa (Nov. 10) and Nebraska (Nov. 12).

The Illini’s final home matches are against Ohio State on Nov. 17 and Michigan on Nov. 18. The team closes out conference action at Minnesota on Nov. 24 and Northwestern on Nov. 25.

The 2023 season marks the seventh season under the direction of head coach Chris Tamas, who owns an overall record of 115-67 at the helm for the Fighting Illini.