Important quotes from Illinois volleyball at Big Ten Media Days

The Illinois volleyball season opener against Cincinnati is less than a month away.

Illinois' trio of Chris Tamas, Kenna Phelan, and Vivian Campbell took to Big Ten Media Days, touching on everything from the sting of last year's late-season collapse to art class, family competitiveness, and what it takes to build a culture that survives the grind of Big Ten play.

Chris Tamas on stability, and what comes next

Fresh off signing a contract extension through the 2028-29 season, Tamas didn't waste time crediting the administration for the runway to keep building.

"To have the backing of administration and leadership has been tremendous. Josh [Whitman] and everyone around him has done a great job. I knew when I signed up for this it wasn't a short-term flash in the pan, it was long-term, we're building this thing together. Just looking forward to another season with the team we've got."

The extension wasn't the story Tamas wanted to dwell on. With the opener quickly approaching, he was far more focused on the competition happening in the gym right now and the margins that decided so many matches a year ago.

"It's figuring out a lineup. It's very competitive in the gym right now. Last year we were really close in a lot of matches and it's figuring out how we score those two extra points. How do we hammer it out in the best conference in the country? We've got to keep grinding for every point we can get... I'm really excited about this team and I think we filled some spots we needed to fill."

The "so close" framing came up again when Tamas was asked to unpack Illinois' second-half fade in Big Ten play last season. His answer was less about scheme and more about the reality of a young team hitting adversity for the first time together.

"When you have a team that hasn't really been there before you're going through the fire together and trying to all put it out together. I think last year we just kind of ran into the second half of conference play, a couple things happened injury-wise internally. I thought we were right there, it was so close."

It's also why Tamas leaned so heavily on Kenna Phelan and Vivian Campbell when the conversation turned to leadership, not as a talking point, but as something the program has genuinely come to rely on.

"They [Phelan and Campbell] are a tremendous couple of players who are real leaders of our team and have been so for the past year and a half. Those two specifically have stepped up to the plate. We [coaches] aren't around them for the whole year, a third they're on their own, so those times are when it is about team culture and the players being able to step up in these leadership roles and making sure everyone stays on track... We don't have to spend a ton of time talking about culture because everyone understood it because they talked about it throughout the summer."

On the transfer portal, Tamas described a shift from the old model of roster-building toward something more opportunistic, and he made clear the Illini took advantage of it.

"You're going out there trying to find the best you can find. It used to be a lot more planned out in terms of we've got these spots to fill... Now you can turn over rosters a little quicker. Whenever you have spaces that are open, you're just gonna try to fill them with the best you can. I think you'll see a lot of firepower coming this year that maybe we haven't in a few years past."

Asked about returning players ready to take a leap, Tamas name dropped a couple, but was quick to frame it as a team-wide expectation rather than a short list.

"A lot of players are vying for spots right now. Alyssa Aguayo had an impressive freshman campaign. Ashlyn Philpot coming off another good year. One of our pillars is 'everyone,' it's about everyone on the team, so I hate just to point a few people out. It's really for me, just being the best team we can be and we were so close last year, and we're coming this year."

On why Illinois builds such an ambitious non-conference slate, Tamas kept it simple: There's no substitute for getting tested before conference play starts.

"You're looking for the competitive matches, you're looking to test your team, get around the country in some different environments that's gonna set you up for Big Ten play... It's what you've got to do to make sure your team is ready to compete every single time you're on the floor because that's what you're going to get in Big Ten play."

And with the Big Ten's first-ever volleyball tournament arriving this November at Fishers Event Center, Tamas offered an excited take on what it means for the sport, crediting conference leadership for pushing it through.

"Hats off to Commissioner Petitti for pushing this forward and really seeing the value in having a big tournament in front of a lot of eyeballs. To have everyone in the same building is tremendous for volleyball and volleyball fans everywhere because you're gonna get some knockout matches. In the past, you may know, going into that last week you may not have a shot, but now that you have that tournament play, it gives you a little more life."

Kenna Phelan on gratitude, art class, and earning trust

Phelan enters her second year in Orange and Blue after transferring in and immediately making an impact. She was named to the All-Big Ten second team in 2025. Looking back on how she found her footing, she credited Tamas directly for making the transition smooth.

"Chris is phenomenal and he made me feel so comfortable. We have one of the best teams, the culture and people take a lot of weight off of everyone's shoulders and it's really about the collective. It just makes everything easier."

That transfer experience, she said, has shaped how she talks to the program's newer, younger players, many of whom have never known anything but Illinois volleyball.

"Seeing other situations, the gratitude we feel to be at this program, [relaying that] to the freshmen who don't know anything else, just to be grateful for what we're given because it's not like this everywhere."

Asked to define the culture inside the program, Phelan didn't point to star power; she pointed to depth and to playing for something bigger than personal stats.

"We're only going to be as good as our 18th man. It's the little things, summer workouts, making sure no one is left behind. There's something about it when you're playing for something bigger than your own personal benefit, when you're playing for that girl next to you."

On a more personal note, Phelan opened up about a passion that has nothing to do with a volleyball court, art.

"It's something I've done since I was little. I loved my elementary art teacher, she inspired me. That's the profession I'd love to go into one day. It really just takes your mind off of everything, I wanted to do something outside of volleyball I enjoy doing and am passionate about."

And when it comes to running the offense as Illinois' floor general, Phelan tied her leadership philosophy directly back to relationships.

"[I] put a big emphasis on building relationships. If you're going to be a floor general, I can't tell you what to do if we don't have a good relationship. You have to build that trust, and that communication. Really humbling yourself and leveling it out makes a big difference."

Vivian Campbell on staying ready, family roots, and buying in

Campbell, entering her third season with the program, was direct about her role heading into 2026: whatever the coaching staff needs, she's ready for it.

"I'm just ready for anything. It's a big part of our program to be ready to be put on the court whenever in any position. Whatever way I can help, I'm just ready to go attack it."

Looking at where the team stands heading into the final stretch of preseason, Campbell pointed to consistency as the theme from spring into fall.

"We came off a great spring and kept the energy going this summer. As we enter this preseason, it's about staying competitive and giving every day and every practice the same attention as we do when we get out on the court."

Like Phelan, Campbell has walked the transfer path herself, and she described making a point of passing that experience along to Illinois' newest additions.

"Especially with transferring in, our perspective and experience from it, we've had multiple conversations with people coming into our program just sharing our experience, and letting them know why we chose [Illinois], and hopefully for them to choose it too."

She talked about something that can get lost in the grind of a Big Ten season, fun matters, and it's not separate from winning.

"We make a big point to make sure that everyone wants to be there and is having fun because that's when we're most competitive and when we work best together."

Asked about where her competitive streak comes from, Campbell leaned into her upbringing.

"I have a very competitive family. That's definitely where I get it from. It's so fun, I love sports, my family loves sports. Football, basketball, volleyball, all of it. It's just really fun to grow up being competitive, playing outside with each other and learning from their experiences as well... The biggest lessons they taught me is just attacking every opportunity, taking every opportunity as if it's the last, giving it your all, being a good teammate to people and really just being thankful for where you are."

She closed the session echoing the same theme Tamas and Phelan both hit on, that Illinois volleyball is bigger than any one player.

"Relationships go so far. It's all 18 of us, including staff and everyone that helps our program. So, when it comes to leadership, it's really important for us to show we're all in this together. We all have the same goals, and are working toward the same purpose."

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