Hope springs eternal.
For volleyball teams, the spring exhibition season serves as a chance to put in the work to build upon the past season, try out new player combinations, integrate newcomers and install offensive systems.
The Big Ten will try to re-establish its status as the nation’s preeminent conference after it failed to send a team to the NCAA national semifinals for the first time since 2006.
Four B1G teams played host to an Athletes Unlimited pro touring team, while others faced regional opponents. Here are highlights and takeaways from each of the team’s spring season:
Illinois
The Illlinii wrapped the spring semester undefeated by picking up wins over Eastern Illinois, Saint Louis and Notre Dame. The biggest challenge for Illinois during the spring was to find a replacement for four-year starting setter Diana Brown. Redshirt-sophomore Brooke Mosher, an attacker last season, ran the offense most of the spring. While the hitters got used to her style, Mosher settled back in, and Illinois coach Chris Tamas said he was pleased with what he saw.
“The spring was good for her, and she got into a groove,”…
