Illinois adds middle blocker Kristina Starostenko
· Yahoo Sports
Jun. 29—CHAMPAIGN — Illinois volleyball rounded out its 2026 roster Monday by officially signing middle blocker Kristina Starostenko. The 21-year-old Ukrainian played professionally in France the past two seasons after starting her career in Ukraine.
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"Kristina has been around high-level volleyball for her whole career," Illinois coach Chris Tamas said in an official release. "She has a fast arm and reads the game really well. She has a great passion for the game and wants to play at a high level for a long time."
Starostenko played the 2025-26 season for Volley Mulhouse Alsace in LNV Ligue A Féminine — the top division in France. The 6-foot sophomore middle blocker helped her team win the French Championship, the Coupe de France and the Super Cup. Her time in Alsace followed her stint with Vandoeuvre Nancy Volleyball in 2024-25.
Prior to her time in France, Starostenko played in her native Ukraine for SC Prometey-2 from 2020-23 and VK Bukovynka from 2023-24. She won the 2022 Ukrainian Amateur League and 2023 Prometey Cup in that stretch and was named the best blocker of the 2021 Ukrainian Amateur League and tournament MVP in the 2022 Ukrainian Amateur League.
Starorstenko has represented Ukraine internationally at both the U20 and U22 levels. She helped lead her team to a second-place finish at the 2024 Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association Championship.
"I chose Illinois because it offers strong academic opportunities, a competitive volleyball program and an environment where I can continue to develop as both a student and as an athlete," Starostenko said in the official release.
Starostenko is one of six newcomers for Illinois ahead of the 2026 season. She joins Tennessee transfer Paityn Chapman (6-3, opposite), Northern Iowa transfer Lindsay Oldendorf (6-3 middle blocker), San Jose State transfer Talita Goncalves (5-7 defensive specialist) and freshmen Maya Harris (6-foot outside hitter) and Madi Miles (6-1 outside hitter).