Welcome back to another season of Illinois volleyball LIVE! reports from Huff Hall. There's plenty to be excited about this fall for the eighth-ranked Illini. Several veteran players return for Illinois, including All-American outside hitter Jocelynn Birks, while the freshman class is ranked No. 1 in the country behind top setter Jordyn Poulter. And those are just two names to watch on the Illini roster.
Illinois is deep again this season, but in a different way from a year ago. This season, coach Kevin Hambly has legitimate backups at every single position. Needless to say, competition in preseason practice has been intense, and we're going to get our first look at just how competitive those practices have been tonight in the scrimmage.