Having a strong mentality is a key focal point for any sport, but for IU volleyball it’s even more important because of how inexperienced IU’s roster is.
The Big Ten Conference is one of the tougher volleyball conferences in the NCAA. Last year, the Hoosiers went 6-14 in conference play and are off to an 0-1 start this year after losing its Big Ten opener to Illinois 3-0.
Now, with one more home match before going on the road, the Hoosiers said they are looking to stay mentally strong and pick up their first conference win Saturday night against Maryland.
The Terrapins have the same record as the Hoosiers at 11-2, and are also 0-1 in the conference, losing their first Big Ten match to Ohio State 3-0 in Columbus, Ohio.
Like Illinois, Maryland has also received enough votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll to be ranked in the top 25.
As for the Hoosiers, they played a close first set against Illinois and will hope to carry that style of play into the match Saturday.
“We are going to watch some film and see what we didn’t do well in second and third set that we did in the first set,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said.
Dunbar-Kruzan also said that she wants to see some leadership on the court. She doesn’t want her team to be score watching, she wants them to just stay focused on the next play regardless of what happened the previous play.
IU inserted freshman outside hitter Kamryn Malloy into the starting lineup against Illinois after her nine-kill performance in sets four and five of the Hoosiers 3-2 win over Florida Gulf Coast Sep. 16. She continued that performance against Illinois as well, finishing the game with 11 kills.
Expect to see more of Malloy on Saturday against Maryland as well.
“I thought she did great against Florida Gulf Coast and I think that’s how you earn your spot,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “She’s been having really good practices and has earned her way onto the court.”
With how young the team is, sophomore middle blocker Deyshia Lofton said that the team is just taking all of this as a learning experience. Dunbar-Kruzan would prefer to learn and win but knows at times you’re going to have to learn and lose as well.
IU knows that every game won’t be perfect, and even though some Big Ten teams outmatch the Hoosiers physically, they can still force them into scrambles to get them out-of-system, similar to what they did to Illinois in the first set.
“We have to embrace those scramble situations more,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “Not everything is going to be pass, set, kill. We want our game to be smart volleyball and scramble volleyball so we can keep them going and get them on the ropes.”
The theme for the match against Maryland is a red out and first serve will be at 7 p.m.
