Welcome to “This Week in Illini Athletics,” a weekly review of the past week of Illini sports and a preview of the week to come.

Football

Last Week: O Captains! My Captains! - We got introduced to our newly elected captains. Sydney Brown, Tarique Barnes, Alex Palczewski and Isaiah Williams are the four players who will be taking on captain duties this season.

This Week: It’s Game Week! - On Saturday, Illinois will have its first task of the season, the Wyoming Cowboys. According to “ESPN’s Football Power Index” Illinois has a 75.1% chance of winning... use that as you please. Illini fans make sure you enjoy this moment, you only get a fresh-slate once. Trust the Process!

Illinois vs Wyoming

Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL) — Saturday 27th, 3 p.m. CT.

Women’s Soccer (2-0 Overall, 0-0 Big Ten)

Last Week: Women’s Soccer goes on to sweep the week at Demirjian Park. This was the exact start the women’s soccer team was hoping for, and even though both Illinois State and Toledo are towards the bottom of their respective conferences, these were not guaranteed wins for the Illini.

• vs. Illinois State - This game was the ultimate “knock the rust off game” for the Illini. In the first period Illinois was able to muster up 7 shots, 3 of which by mid-period substitution Ashley Foley, but none were able to hit back net. With Illinois State putting in a new goalie to start the second half, the pressure was on the Illini to attack the cold goalie as much as possible, and they did just that shooting 12 shots in the half. The old saying, “You only need 1” was proven true after Ashley Prell sent one into the top right corner in the 84th minute. They would go on to win the match 1-0. Illinois’ offense wasn’t anywhere near where it wanted it to be, but they must be proud of their defensive effort. They only allowed 4 shots (2 on goal) the whole game against the Redbirds.
• vs. Toledo - The Illini went up against the Toledo Rockets on Sunday afternoon and they were ready to play. A-little under 20 minutes into the match Sarah Foley broke the ice with what would be the only goal in the first half, but the Illini did not settle. Ten minutes into the second half Kendra Pasquale was able to connect on one making it 2-0, then Makala Woods joined the party adding one of her own in the sixty-third minute. Toledo would get one back, but their last ditch effort was spoiled by Madison Mariani as she sent the game-ending dagger into the net with 9 minutes left in the match. Illini take this one 4-1.

This Week: This week for Women’s soccer was best described by our own Alex Orr.

“The Illini head over to Indiana to visit Butler and Notre Dame. Both the Bulldogs and Irish were tournament teams last year, so this is where we’ll start to find out what this Illini team actually is.”

Illinois W Soccer at Butler — Thursday 25th, 7 p.m. CT.

Illinois W Soccer at Notre Dame — Sunday 28th, 3 p.m. CT.

Women’s Volleyball

Last Week: On Monday, the volleyball squad was rewarded with a No. 17 ranking from the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll.

This Week: The volleyball team will start their season down in Oxford, Mississippi at the Ole Miss Invitational this weekend. They will face off against two opponents in Georgia Tech and Ole Miss.

Illinois W Volleyball vs Georgia Tech — Oxford Miss. Saturday 27th, 3 p.m. CT.

Illinois W Volleyball vs Ole Miss — Oxford Miss. Sunday 28th, 1 p.m. CT.

Weekly Review of Illini in the Pros

NFL

• Kerby Joseph: Kerby has been making some huge leaps this preseason as he has been very impressive toward Lions coaching staff. Against the Colts on Saturday he helped lead the charge recording 6 tackles, 5 of which were solo tackles.

Here is Kerby intercepting Nick Foles in joint practice.

• Jake Hansen: Jake has been using this opportunity in pre-season to really show out for the Texans. He recorded 5 total tackles with 2 solo tackles against the Rams on Friday.
• Doug Kramer: Sadly, Doug’s rookie season will be cut short after he suffered an injury earlier this week.

Hoping for a speedy recovery, Doug!!

MLB

• Michael Massey: Michael has left the yard. BOOOOM!!!! Congratulations Michael on your first dinger, keep raking!!