Hoosiers to face USC in Sweet 16 match

The IU volleyball team must defeat another highly ranked opponent in the NCAA Tournament, but this time it will have to do so on the road.

After beating No. 11 seed Tennessee at University Gym, the Hoosiers (23-11) will go on the road to play No. 6 seed USC at 4 p.m. today.

The IU volleyball team has already made program history by advancing to the Sweet 16 and can further solidify its run with a trip to the Elite Eight.

Head coach Sherry Dunbar’s squad must first beat the Trojans to advance and face either Ohio State or Stanford on Saturday in Ohio UD Arena at the University of Dayton.

The Hoosiers and OSU have the most losses of any team in the Sweet 16 with 11 apiece.

Playing in Dayton, though, could be beneficial to the Hoosiers.

“I think that’s definitely in our favor to not be that far away,” sophomore outside hitter Jordan Haverly said.

Haverly leads the Hoosiers with 454 kills and 37 serving aces.

Last weekend, she recorded 51 kills in the Hoosiers’ two NCAA tournament matches.
Not far behind is senior middle blocker Ashley Benson, who has 424 kills and is second in the Big Ten with a 0.413 hitting efficiency. Sophomore outside hitters Kelci Marschall and Ivie Obeime are third and fourth on the team with 284 and 154 kills,
respectively.

“Ivie and Marsch both had good practices, and I hope they can both step up and help us out offensively,” Dunbar said.

USC has several tall players, but IU has prepared for the height difference.

“I think we have seen players of their size before. We just haven’t seen all of them that size,” Haverly said. “We have worked in practice to try to use their height to our advantage.”

Dunbar explained that getting blocks on USC’s outside hitters will be important.
“I think they have some weaknesses. They are going to try and exploit those weaknesses,” Dunbar said.

One of the main strategies Dunbar wants to see is an attacking serve that doesn’t allow the Trojans to set up their offense. With this point of emphasis, the Hoosiers will try to give USC its fifth loss of the season while continuing their own playoff run.

“We want to keep extending this journey as long as it goes,” Dunbar said.