GREELEY, Colo. — Chris Tamas called his final timeout of Saturday’s match with Illinois trailing Northern Colorado 10-7 in the fifth set. The 1,102 fans at Bank of Colorado Arena included a fair amount in orange and blue, but chants of “overrated” filled the venue with the Bears’ fans sensing an upset in the making against the 12th-ranked Illini.
Tamas had a message for his team in that timeout.
“This is what it’s all about,” he said he told them. “This is the stuff I love, and you better love it, too.”
Illinois had already rebounded from a 5-0 deficit to star the fifth set at that point.