CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Illinois volleyball has three new players in Huff Hall for the spring of 2025.

Two transfers and one early-enrollee freshman joined the Illini in January. Plus, four more freshman will join the team in the fall.

Kenna Phelan and Auburn Tomkinson are the newest players to join Illinois from the transfer portal.

Phelan is a setter who comes to Champaign after two years with Florida State. As a Seminole, she racked up more than 1,200 assists.

The position she plays means there was less room to sit back and lay low while getting acquainted in a new place. Phelan had to lead quickly.

“Definitely had to like come in step up, which was daunting at first you know new team you don’t want to step on any toes,” Phelan said. “But I mean this team has really just embraced me and made me feel so loved and comfortable. A really fun group to compete with.”

Illinois head volleyball coach Chris Tamas recruited the Fayetteville, Arkansas native with an expectation of her being able to take initiative.

“She’s a coaches kid too so we kind of understood from early on that she understood this game at a high level and was just looking for an opportunity to kind of run the show herself,” Tamas said. “She’s doing a nice job.”

Phelan is working on serving, a part of her game that was vital in high school but less used in her first two seasons of college volleyball.

Tomkinson comes to Illinois after two seasons with Texas. She didn’t play either year, but gained experience and knowledge from talented players. The Longhorns won the national title in her first year of college in 2023.

Both incoming transfers say the transition has been easy thanks to quick friendships with new teammates.

“Our team culture is insane,” Tomkinson said. “Literally after this we’re going to go eat at varsity and we’ll probably sit there for an hour or two and just chat. And we do that every single day. Everyone is so close on our team, it’s amazing just being able to turn to anybody and talk to them like a normal person.”

Phelan says she felt welcome before even arriving on campus. Returning Illinois players reached out to introduce themselves.

“Everyone makes a lot of effort to include everyone and to be good teammates,” Phelan said. “We hold each other to a higher standard… I say we love each other but we really spend every second of every day together and that really just builds on the culture.”

Of course, the Illini are tasked with filling the shoes of one of the program’s all-time greats. Raina Terry graduated after earning First Team All-Big Ten three times.

“You don’t just replace a Raina,” Tamas said. “You look for people to step up in different ways… I really do like the mix of what we have going on. Everyone tends to step in different ways on different days… It’s been a collective effort from all of them that have done a great job.”

Tamas says Averie Hernandez, who enters her second year with the Illini after starting her career at Northwestern, is one of several players who have stepped up in a leadership capacity in the spring.