To open the 2025 season, Indiana volleyball headed down south to Coral Gables, Florida, to compete in the Canes Classic. There, the Hoosiers finished 2-0, with wins over University of Miami and Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Hoosiers now look to bring their hot streak back up to Bloomington when they host the Indiana Invitational from Sept. 4-5 inside Wilkinson Hall.
Last season, Indiana went 3-0 in the Indiana Invitational, defeating Chicago State University, University of Southern Indiana and Ball State University.
This year, the Indiana Invitational will feature Southeast Missouri State University, Northern Kentucky University and Western Michigan University — all teams Indiana is very capable of beating.
Southeast Missouri State
The Hoosiers' first match of the tournament will be against Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Redhawks enter the tournament on a two-game losing streak and an overall record of 1-2.
Southeast Missouri State opened up its season in Starkville, Mississippi, for the Maroon and White Invite where they defeated Grambling State University and suffered back-to-back losses to Mississippi State University and University of North Alabama.
The Redhawks offense is led by junior outside hitter Lucy Arndt who recorded double digit kills in all three matches of the tournament, including a tournament-high 12 kills against Mississippi State. Arndt also leads the teams in kills per set with an average of 3.30.
The Redhawkss defense is led by junior libero Nina Schuberth. Schubert is the reigning 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and recorded 22 digs against North Alabama in the Redhawks season opening tournament.
The Hoosiers are 4-0 all time against the Redhawks with their most recent win coming in 2021 when Indiana beat Southeast Missouri State 3-2 on Sept. 4 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Northern Kentucky
Indiana will face off against Northern Kentucky at 10 a.m. Friday. Northern Kentucky comes into the tournament off a loss to University of Southern Indiana on Aug. 30 and has an overall record of 1-2.
The Norse finished last season with an 11-18 overall record and a 7-11 conference record. In the preseason predictions, Northern Kentucky was picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League conference in 2025.
Northern Kentucky returned six key players from last season, including Horizon League All-Freshman Team selection outside hitter Allison Risley, redshirt senior libero Lucy Cluxton, sophomore setter Lainey Green, outside junior hitters Sydney Bray and Ava Hoying and junior middle blocker Ivey Stocks.
So far this season, Risley leads the Norse in total number of kills (33) and kills per set (3.00), while Cluxton leads the team in total number of digs (60), as well as digs per set (5.45).
Indiana is 4-5 all-time against Northern Kentucky, with the most recent matchup being a Hoosier victory on Aug 26, 2016, in three sets.
Western Michigan
Lastly, Indiana will finish up the invitational with a matchup against Western Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Broncos started their season off by hosting the Western Michigan Tournament from Aug. 29-31 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the tournament, the Broncos defeated Oakland University and suffered losses to both Illinois State University and DePaul University, bringing their overall record to 1-2.
Two Western Michigan players earned weekly honors from the MAC conference for their opening weekend performances Sept. 1. Sophomore outside hitter Elana Erickson earned Defensive Player of the Week after totaling 63 digs and going 27-for-27 in serve receive. Redshirt freshman setter Leah Richmond claimed Setter of the Week after averaging 11.18 assists and 2.64 digs per set.
The Hoosiers are 5-8 all-time against the Broncos with the most recent match in 2021, which resulted in a loss for Indiana in five sets on Sept. 3 in Kalamazoo.
The Hoosiers will look to take advantage of their non-conference competition before beginning a tough stretch of conference opponents later in the season. All three of the Hoosiers’ games will be streamed on BigTen+
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
