BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 2, 2022

Chris Tamas

Kennedy Collins

Diana Brown

Illinois Fighting Illini

Press Conference

COACH TAMAS: I'll start by saying, I know I heard some commentary about this, this is awesome. I mean, we've been pushing to try to promote the sport for a long time. And I know like media day has been you guys that are sitting right here as a one-person show. I appreciate your efforts up until now.

But this is great that the Big Ten has put this together to promote not only our sport but also women's athletics. And just proud to be part of it and try to continue to push the sport as best we can. And looking forward to another great year, competitive season as it always has been. And just looking forward to get after it.

Q. Coach, you've had such a history with the Big Ten. What does it mean to you personally to have the Big Ten itself be the first one to have a meeting on a day like this?

COACH TAMAS: I think it's great. Like I opened with, I'm not going to say I would expect nothing less. But I just think that's a part of what comes with being here, always pushing limits and just like Commissioner Warren said yesterday, we're always trying to push that ceiling higher and higher and make people follow us, not be followers.

So I believe that we're doing that right now. And happy to be part of it and to continue that tradition through the sport and, like I said, throughout all athletics as well.

Q. Every year, I'm kind of generalizing, but it's kind of true, seems like your team is good but you stay under the radar for some reason. All of a sudden, in mid November and into December you're always good. Is there a method to your madness?

COACH TAMAS: Question for the players. I think you're correct. I think we always talk about just improving one day at a time and just taking every day for what it's worth and just try to improve with every single step of the way. And some years you can put it all together and string it together. But if you have an injury or a sickness or an illness and sometimes the conference isn't going to (indiscernible) on you. And all of a sudden, people say, oh, your best player is sick or best middle is hurt -- people will keep coming after you.

Some of it is stroke of luck, too. I think last year as an example we kind of hit. We had a nice win against Penn State, and then we had three weeks where we were out with one of our main starters. And just kind of, I wouldn't say fell on a slide but just didn't do well as we wanted to. Finished seventh in the conference. Like you mentioned, we make it to the tournament.

And safe to say nobody wants to see us in the tournament. We've always pushed that edge. And we talk about being great risk takers while we're playing in this tough conference, and that prepares us for the end of the year.

And so I think it's just mostly with the messaging and, like I said, playing in this conference prepares you for just about anything. And I think you've seen it not only with us but you've had teams that six teams in the Sweet 16, four teams in the Elite Eight, two teams in the Final Four for the last six or seven years. I think the record speaks for themselves.

But we're happy to be part of that. We just want to do it one day at a time. And we want to finish better than we started every single season. I'm proud to say we've done that for the majority of the seasons that we've had.

Q. Follow up on that, does it feel like it's all about the tournament, playing your best volleyball into late November, December? And how do you balance that with the desire to win the Big Ten?

COACH TAMAS: You've got to get there. I think that's always going to be the goal to win every single game you can. The reality of that happens is it's not great just because, like I mentioned, every single matchup, whether you're playing at home or whether you're playing on the road, you're going to have a Final Four-type matchup every single time you step on the floor.

I'm talking not just the top teams in the conference. I'm talking about 1 through 14. I can remember an instance we go five with Rutgers they played lights out and then we go to Penn State the very next day and beat them and what seemed to be an easier game.

But that's just a part of what the conference is. And so you really just -- it teaches us, coaches and players, how to just kind of take everything for what's it's worth. Cherish those victories, making sure you're really celebrating every victory you have, and continually learn from the win or the loss.

So, hey, we did well in this game and this is what we did well. And if we didn't do well, what can we shore up and get ready for for the next game.

Q. You have recruiting pipelines across the Midwest overwhelmingly a Midwestern team this year. But this year you brought in Sophie from Seattle. And the Big Ten is set to broadcast matches internationally. How important is it for you to get recruits from across the country and internationally?

COACH TAMAS: We got a Hawaiian as well. We're branching out. I think we've had players from all over. But most of our rosters will look fairly regionalized. I think that's pretty standard across the country.

And so you're always looking to bring in the best no matter where they come from. And I'm proud that we have great players from the region. But it's also about we're trying to be the best conference. We're trying to be one of the best teams in the best conference. You can have a look anywhere and everywhere and try to promote that, and to get players from all over who want to be here and want to be part of something special.

Q. Diana, is it true you were a freshman who redshirted Jordan's senior year? So you practiced with her, so you made her into what she is then. Can you talk about being the gym with her and the success she had probably pretty cool but influences she might have had on you that year and then I know she visits once in a while?

DIANA BROWN: Yes, she's pretty cool.

(Laughter).

She's awesome. But I think just being in the gym, how much confidence she had in our team. Obviously she's really good at volleyball. And so whether she knew it or not, I was kind of watching what she does. And as a freshman I think everyone kind of does that, try to integrate yourself into the program. But just the way she -- I remember our match against Wisconsin at Wisconsin, we ran out of subs. And one of our DSes had to play front row.

It was either a train wreck or it was going to work. And Jordan facilitated this amazing defense and offense and we won that set. And it was, like, jaw-dropping.

And so just from that season she's a great role model. And whenever she comes back in town she always texts me or we talk. So it's pretty cool to have her in front of me.

Q. Three or four spring matches were canceled. Where did that put you developmental wise going into the season, and does having such an experienced roster, does that offset maybe any missed opportunities you had in the spring?

COACH TAMAS: We added some players towards the end, obviously our freshman class and we added a transfer, Kayla Burbage, at the end. I look at the spring as full development. And whether you're playing competition or not, it was unfortunate we had to cancel those matches. Just had some illnesses we couldn't recover from.

But the team does a lot of their work in the summertime without us there. And I wish we could work with them, and we're trying to push for that as a sport. But it's always -- I do believe the good teams will continue to get better.

I think there's that Mia Hamm quote where it's you're drenched in sweat when nobody is watching is where that's going to get made.

I know these players have been working hard all summer. You would like to have that time. You'd like to have those matches to kind of see what you have in front of a crowd. But we've also not been in front of crowds before as the last couple of years has shown, and I know these players are going to be ready to play come next week.

Q. (Indiscernible) the summer. Are you pleased with where the team is at too? He mentioned one of the things he's pushing for is that contact. Do you wish that was an option to have during the summer months?

KENNEDY COLLINS: I think our team is in a good spot this summer just with us not having as much competition in the spring. I think we still play like we did have that competition this spring and summer. It's really exciting to see us work hard every day and prepare for the season. So I think we're in a good spot.

Q. Kennedy and Diana, we've had this conversation over the last day or so about women's volleyball is ascending. We have this media event. We're on linear television more often. It's becoming a growing sport. I'm curious what advice either of you would have if you were asked what you would want to do to change to make the sport better from an athlete, academic perspective, competition experience, anything that you want to do to change to help college volleyball?

KENNEDY COLLINS: We just kind of talked about it. I would just say having the extra time with the coaches in the summer. I know other sports do have the opportunity to work with coaches over the summer. I think that would be nice to help us even prepare us more for our season.

DIANA BROWN: I think I always kind of find myself comparing to men's basketball and football. And it is pretty obvious that they make a lot of profit. But I want to be the ones that people compare to. We want to compare to women's volleyball. And not just women's, but men's too.

And so I think it's important to be an ally to our men's side of the sport. And, so, I don't really have a specific example but I want to be the ones that people are looking toward.

Q. Related but a couple weeks ago, Diana, I saw on Twitter you signed with Campus Ink. And a few days ago Skyy Clark and Art Sitkowski are also representing. Can you talk about the opportunity is to grow your brand and be part of that group?

DIANA BROWN: Ken actually signed before me and she has some merch out.

(Laughter).

So the NIL stuff is really cool. I'm personally not the best at branding myself but I think it gives me a little bit of insight into the real world.

If I want opportunities I have to go get them. We are presented with cool things like this. And they approached me, and take this opportunity and not take advantage of that.

Q. On that note, our publication has written a ton about NIL. Clearly this market now is very different from where it was last summer. Brands are approaching it differently. Schools are providing different information. How has that process changed for you two, both in terms of what you're getting from Illinois and what you're seeing out there in the greater NIL space?

DIANA BROWN: For me, I so want my sport and academics to be the forefront of my priorities. And so not a lot has changed in my life but I think that even more doors were opened for us.

And even from the beginning, I feel like it was a lot like go brand yourself. Ask other companies what you can do for them. But now we have people approaching us.

And so even from last year to this year, it's growing. And I think it's kind of cool that every athlete has that opportunity.

KENNEDY COLLINS: Just being presented with the opportunity is amazing. Volleyball and academics is important but add in the extra baggage now with NIL, but Illinois, the sport has been great. Everybody's been helping. We have a special guide that helps us with that. So it's been really helpful.

Q. You've done a great job with the transfer portals. And what it like keeping two great players next to you but keep the squad intact and have them buy into what you're coaching?

COACH TAMAS: I think it's an interesting question. I don't think it's avoidable. We've had a transfer every year. I think one every year to be exact and that's going to happen. There's going to be players. Some of ours have been due to injury as an example, unfortunately. So we haven't really had too much of an exodus in terms of players going out, but had a few coming in. I think it's great if you need to fulfill a spot or have some depth, whatnot.

But overall I'm pretty big on loyalty. I'm not looking to make the transfer portal a big priority moving forward. But for those players that are out there maybe didn't find a great fit the first time around, we feel like we've created a good culture and we've had a good thing going and we're happy to accept anyone that wants to be with us.

I think that's also a reason people aren't leaving us either because we've created that culture and it's something we continue to do and we commit to these players for four, five years however long it takes to get through their career, I want to make sure we fulfill that commitment because I think that's important.

Q. Kennedy and Diana, it's sort of a senior year, right? Is there any different mindset or vibe you're feeling going into this in a leave-it-all-out-there kind of way?

DIANA BROWN: I don't think that I really have like regretted any of my effort on the court before this. But being an underclassman, you always hear about the upperclassmen, oh, my body hurts and I'm getting so old and stuff like that.

But I was explaining to teammates the other day, I don't really feel that yet. So just my body is speaking to me and I'm excited. I'm rejuvenated. I'm ready to go. And I don't think in that aspect it's any different and this may be my last season, but also you have to take every point like it's your last. Injuries unfortunately come here and there. I guess I don't really take for granted any playing that I have.

KENNEDY COLLINS: I agree. I don't think my mindset has changed at all. I know as a team we talked about we made it to the tournament, made it to the Sweet 16 last year. That's our standard. So I think as a team I think that mindset has shifted because we always want to make the tournament. We always want to be at the top of it. So as a team that was our mindset shift this year.