ORANGE, N.J. - The 2026 Illinois State volleyball season kicks off on Friday in the opening round of the Seton Hall Tournament, hosted inside Walsh Gymnasium on the Seton Hall campus.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, August 28Â - 2 p.m. (CT) - at Seton Hall - WATCH |Â STATS
Saturday, August 29 - 11 a.m. (CT) - vs NJIT - STATS
Sunday, August 30 - 11 a.m. (CT) - vs FDU - STATS
QUICK HITTERS
• The Redbirds are 27-26 all-time in season openers, including sweeping three matches at the Western Michigan Tournament last season
• Illinois State head coach Allie Matters returns to Seton Hall, a place that she was a four-year letterwinner, and later an assistant coach
• When Illinois State plays at the Oakland Invite Volleyball Tournament, Abby Reck will play against each of her younger sisters, as one of her younger twin sisters (Molly) plays at Oakland, and the other twin (Mallory) plays for Marist. The three of them were all High School teammates with Illinois State setter Ella Craggs
• Illinois State junior opposite Ruth Ziegler was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason All-Conference Team
• The Redbirds were picked to finish sixth of 11 schools in the 2026 MVC Preseason Coaches Poll
• Illinois State closed the 2025 season by winning six of its last eight games, including four in a row by 3-0 sweeps, eventually falling in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament to eventual champion Northern Iowa
• Late last season against Bradley (Oct. 28), Murray State (Oct. 31), and Evansville (Nov. 7) the Illinois State Redbirds had three consecutive matches hitting above .300. Since 1996 that was tied for the second-longest such streak in program history, behind only four straight from the 2003 season
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PRESEASON ALL-MVC
Illinois State junior opposite Ruth Ziegler has been named to the Missouri Valley Conference preseason All-Conference Team, as the Redbirds were picked to finish sixth in the poll conducted of the 11 MVC head coaches. Ziegler, who had 219 kills to lead all ISU returners, had a .248 attack percentage on the season to go with 53 blocks and 247 total points. The Gurnee, Illinois, native, earned MVC All-Tournament honors last season for ISU.
THE RETURN MATTERS
Illinois State head coach Allie Matters returns to South Orange, New Jersey, a place she spent time as both a student-athlete and assistant coach, to face off against her former school. She was a member of the Seton Hall volleyball program from 2006-09 and a member of the coaching staff from 2012-17. She remains third in school history in career digs (1,945) and digs per set (4.37). Her 614 digs in 2009 and her 576 digs in 2008 remain as the fourth, and sixth, most digs in a season in Pirate school history, respectively. She was twice named to the Big East Second Team (2008 and 2009), and was twice named a Big East Player of the Week, once each in 2008 and 2009. She was also a three-time member of the Big East All-Academic Squad, earning the honor in 2007, 2008, and 2009. She was named the Seton Hall Overall Athlete of the Year in 2009 and 2010, and the Seton Hall Freshman of the Year in 2007. In 2014 she and head coach Allison Yaeger were named the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
ILLINOIS STATE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT-ATHLETES
This season, with two international student-athletes on the roster (Emilija Arsic from Belgrade, Serbia, and Oliwia Caputa from Zwiec, Poland), it marks the fourth consecutive season that the ISU volleyball roster has had at least two international players on it. The Redbirds have had at least one international student-athlete every season since 2020.
RETURNING THE SETTERS
Illinois State returns each of its top two assist leaders last season, as Ella Craggs had 671 and Audrey Clark had 475. The duo's total - 1,146 - is the most of any returning pair on the MVC, with the Belmont duo of Jordan Czajkowski and Alivia Keegan sitting just behind the Redbirds with 1,120. There are just four schools in the MVC to return two setters with 200+ assists.
REDBIRDS PICKED SIXTH
The Illinois State volleyball team has been selected to finish sixth in the MVC, according to the conference's preseason coaches poll. Northern Iowa was picked to finish first, earning 119 points and nine first place votes, while Drake and UIC picked up the two remaining first place votes. Five other schools: Bradley, Evansville, Indiana State, Murray State, and Southern Illinois were picked behind Illinois State; however, those results were not made available to the public.
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