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 (1-1 Overall, 0-1 Big Ten)

Last Week: Well that was rough... On Friday night, the Illini went into Bloomington and dropped a very winnable game with having multiple chances of putting the Hoosiers away. It was the perfect storm of some questionable calls and big mental mistakes by the Illini that allowed Indiana (or should I say Indinia) to steal this win right from under Illinois.

Final: Illinois 20 - Indiana 23

Full game recap here:

This Week: The Illini will be looking to bounce back against Virginia on Saturday afternoon in Champaign.

Illinois Football vs. Virginia — Saturday, Sept. 10th, 3 p.m. CT.

Women’s Soccer (4-2 Overall, 0-0 Big Ten)

Last Week: The Illini split the week with a loss to #18 Texas A&M but bounced backed against Indiana State late Sunday night.

• vs. #18 Texas A&M - If you are a fan of defense, this game would be right up your alley. Texas A&M heading into this match held a record of 3-0-1, with the tie coming against #25 Clemson, but even more impressive was that the Aggies have only allowed one goal so far this regular season. So, the Illini knew coming into the match that scoring would be at a minimum, and it was. Texas A&M had the jump from first whistle and came flying out of the gate putting all the pressure on the Illini, and in the 13th minute Texas A&M’s MaKhiya McDonald shot one past Julia Cili making it 1-0 Aggies early on. Aggies looked to stay aggressive as they recorded three offsides in consecutive possessions daring the Illini to stop them. After allowing the goal, the Illini defense stood tall deflecting 5 more Aggie attempts up to half. However, Illinois’ offense could not get going as they did not record a shot the whole first half. Looking to get off their heels the Illini came out of the locker-room on the attack with Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal and Julia Eichenbaum both putting up shots to give the Illini an opportunity to tie it up. Sadly, that was all the Illini offense could muster as they lose this one 1-0.

Final: Illinois 0 - Texas A&M 1

• vs. Indiana State - After a hard fought loss against Texas A&M, Illinois looked to answer against Indiana State. The Illini laced up 9 shots in the first 20 minutes alone, not allowing the Sycamore’s to get comfortable. Sarah Foley in the 24th minute sunk-in her 2nd goal of the season with assets from Sydney Stephens and Julia Eichenbaum. With very little action to close out the period halftime came and went with the Illini up by one score. The start of the 2nd half saw the Illini jump up 2-0 with a goal by Kendra Pasquale. Indiana State would answer with a penalty kick in the 79th minute. With the score 2-1, the Illini were able to obtain more breathing room by the way of an Indiana State own goal. With the Sycamore’s scoring in the 85th minute, that own goal proved to be the difference in this game.

Final: Illinois 3 - Indiana State 2

This Week: It’s Braggin’ Rights week for the women’s soccer team as they are scheduled to play Missouri on Thursday. They then wrap up the week hosting Loyola at Demirjian Park.

Illinois W Soccer vs. Missouri — Thursday, Sept. 8th, 7 p.m. CT.

Illinois W Soccer vs. Missouri — Sunday, Sept. 11th, 1 p.m. CT.

#19 Volleyball (1-3 Overall, 0-0 Big Ten)

Last Week: Illinois flew over to Boulder Colorado to take part in the Big Ten/Pac-12 challenge and drew matchups against Colorado and the #14-ranked Washington Huskies. Sadly, the Illini were unable to come away with a win during the weekend.

• vs. Colorado - The first set of the match was a crazy back & forth affair. Trading points left and right neither squad could pull away from each other. Illinois was on the verge of winning the set until a Colorado kill knotted it up at 25, Colorado would go on to win the remaining points at take the set. The 2nd set was much of the same for the first 22 points. With it being tied up at eleven’s, Colorado went on a run that the Illini could not match as they ran away with the set. With Illinois’ back against the wall, the Illini came out and controlled the whole 3rd set, but Colorado would not go away. With the score being 22-19 in Illinois favor, the Buffalos went on a 6 point run to take the set and win the match.

Set 1: ILL 25 - COL 27

Set 2: ILL 18 - COL 25

Set 3: ILL 22 - COL 25

Final: ILL 0 - COL 3

• vs. #14 Washington - Washington came out of the gate hot. Scoring the first 5 points of the match. It wasn’t until a kill by Kyla Swanson allowed the Illini to get on the board against their ranked opponent. The Illini were able to bring it within three until the Huskies scored 8 unanswered points; taking set one. Set 2 the Illini were able to battle the Huskies all the way down the stretch. When they needed it the most the Illini capitalized on Washington’s mistakes. Service errors on the Huskies elevated the Illini to a set win. With the match knotted up, the battle for crucial 3rd set was up for grabs. This set featured the Illini going on a 4 point run, then of course Washington going on one of their own. With the match tied up at 21 after a Kayla Burbage kill, the Huskies proceed to take the set in their favor. The Illini were looking up at 2-1 deficit against the number #14 team in country, but they did not give in. The Illini gave the Huskies all the had but they eventually fell in the deciding set.

Set 1: ILL 12 - WAS 25

Set 2: ILL 25 - WAS 22

Set 3: ILL 22 - WAS 25

Set 4: ILL 19 - WAS 25

Final: ILL 1 - WAS 3

This Week: The volleyball team is heading to Dayton for the Dayton Invitational, where they drew matchups against Missouri State and the Wildcats of Villanova. The squad is looking come away with 2 wins to bounce back from their 2 hard losses.

Illinois Volleyball vs. Missouri State — Friday, Sept. 9th, 4 p.m. CT

Illinois Volleyball vs. Villanova — Saturday, Sept. 10th, 10 a.m. CT

Cross Country

Last Week: Both Men and Women’s cross country teams took part in the Illini challenge at home last week. For the women, the Illini took the top 6 placements and then for the men, the Illini took the top seven spots of the race.

Illinois Results (Women’s):

1. Halle Hill (17:55.4)
2. Sam Poglitsch (17:55.5)
3. Madison Marasco (17:56.0)
4. Maggie Gamboa (18:14.2)
5. Amalia Malecek (18:20.4)
6. Katie Hohe (18:35.8)

Illinois Results (Men’s):

1. Tyler Cushing (18:02.6)
2. Colin Yandel (18:02.7)
3. Jack Roberts (18:07.0)
4. Brady Masters (18:13.1)
5. Michael Madiol (18:30.1)
6. Anthony Maida (18:35.6)
7. Will Giblin (18:43.0)

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Weekly Review of Illini in the Pros

NFL

• The NFL Cut Day came and went and these former Illini have cemented themselves on NFL Rosters!

- Toney Adams Jr. -> Jets

- Jake Hansen -> Texans

- Kerby Joseph -> Lions

- Doug Kramer -> Bears

- Vederian Lowe -> Vikings

- James McCourt -> Jaguars

Basketball

• Trent Frazier - Trent has been balling out overseas in Serbia. His last two games he posted 17 points and in the other 13 points and 5 assists.

• Da’Monte Williams - Da’Monte is about to head overseas to start his professional basketball career.

• Kofi Cockburn - The King had his birthday this past week: the Illini legend turns 23!

• Ayo Dosunmo - Gotta love the confidence in our young bull!