With a whole new look to its roster, Indiana volleyball will compete in its first regular-season play of the year during the Canes Classic in Coral Gables, Florida.
The Hoosiers will begin the tournament with a matchup against the University of Miami on Friday followed by a match against Virginia Commonwealth University on Saturday.
After losing nine players from the 2024 season, Indiana brought in the No. 14 ranked freshman class in the country, according to Prep Dig, along with graduate student outside hitter Jessica Smith, who transferred to Indiana after four seasons with the UCLA beach volleyball program. Indiana’s 2025 recruiting class was the highest ranked in program history, with the previous record being set when the 2020 class ranked No. 15 in the nation.
With eight new players — seven being freshmen — on eighth-year head coach Steve Aird’s squad, the Hoosiers’ upcoming non-conference schedule will serve as crucial matches for them to adjust to playing with each other before the conference slate.
But Friday will mark the second time the new-look Hoosiers have played on the court together, as the team competed in the Cream and Crimson Scrimmage on Aug. 23 in Bloomington. The cream team — consisting of Indiana’s projected starters for the season — swept the crimson team in the Hoosiers’ first appearance in front of fans. Freshman outside hitter Jaidyn Jager emerged as an impactful player for the Hoosiers, tallying a team-high 19 kills as a member of the cream team, while senior opposite hitter Avry Tatum recorded 12 kills for the starters.
Last season, the Hoosiers finished with an overall record of 15-15 and went 8-12 in Big Ten play, which put them in a tie for 10th in the conference standings with Michigan and UCLA.
The Hoosiers’ opponents
Indiana’s first match of the weekend against the Hurricanes will be an early season test for the Hoosiers. Last season, Miami went 22-11 and earned the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Its tournament run was ended by No. 1 seeded Nebraska, which advanced all the way to the semifinals before losing to the eventual-champion Penn State.
But like the Hoosiers, Miami’s roster will look much different than it did last season, as three of the Hurricanes’ top four scorers are no longer part of the team. During the 2024 season, outside hitter senior Flormarie Heredia Colon led Miami with an average of 5 points per set throughout the season. She also led the Hurricanes in kills with 525 through 33 match starts.
Miami beat Indiana in four sets in 2024 at the Texas Invitational in Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas. In the match, senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles tallied a team-high 13 kills for the Hoosiers, followed by Tatum, who recorded 12 kills. But it wasn't enough against Heredia Colon’s 18 kills for the Hurricanes.
VCU finished its 2024 campaign at 18-9, which led to the Rams being ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic 10 conference preseason poll. They are led by senior opposite hitter Julia Rienks, who tallied 322 kills during her junior campaign. And like Indiana and Miami, VCU’s roster is full of new players, especially transfers. Even with the Rams’ leading scorer returning, finding chemistry among veteran players and transfers will be essential for VCU and third-year head coach Tim Doyle.
Friday’s match against Miami is set to begin at 6 p.m., while the Hoosiers’ match against VCU is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday. Both matches will be played at the Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables, Florida. Indiana’s match with Miami will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, while its match with VCU will not be available to stream.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and Kasey Watkins for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct Miami senior outside hitter Flormarie Heredia Colon's transfer history.
