Indiana volleyball added on to its perfect record and picked up its eighth win of the season at the Rambler Invitational.
With a three-set win over Stephen F. Austin State University on Saturday at Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, the Hoosiers finished the weekend 3-0 with wins over Bowling Green State University and Loyola University Chicago.
Against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, the big block and service pressure of the Hoosiers controlled the narrative of the game. The Hoosiers tallied five aces and 28 blocks, while the Ladyjacks only accumulated three aces and two blocks.
Throughout three sets of play, sophomore middle blocker Ella Boersema led the Hoosiers at the net with nine blocks, six kills and a hitting percentage of .556.
Indiana got on the board first in the opening set against Stephen F. Austin and didn’t trail the remainder of the set. After Stephen F. Austin tied the game up 3-3, the Hoosiers went on a four-point run to pull out of reach and ultimately win set one 25-15.
Senior middle blocker Madi Sell, senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles and senior opposite hitter Avry Tatum led the way with three kills apiece in the set for Indiana.
The Hoosiers and Ladyjacks each had 12 kills, but the key difference was found in attacking errors and overall hitting percentage. The Ladyjacks tallied 10 attacking errors, which brought their hitting percentage to 0.57. However, the Hoosiers only committed two attacking errors and accumulated a hitting percentage of .345 in the set.
Stephen F. Austin started off the second set strong, taking a 2-0 lead off back-to-back kills from sophomore pin hitter Katherine Holtman and sophomore middle blocker Jordan Henderson.
The game remained back and forth until Indiana went on a 4-0 run, to take the 7-5 lead and shift the momentum to the Hoosiers. From that point on, the Cream and Crimson took complete control to close out the set 25-14.
Stephen F. Austin responded with the first point in the third set off a kill from Holtman, but Indiana quickly took control. After taking an early 3-2 lead, the Hoosiers led for the remainder of the set and ultimately defeated the Ladyjacks 25-16.
With the 3-0 sweep of the Ladyjacks, the Hoosiers’ record improved to 8-0 — the first 8-0 start in eighth-year head coach Steve Aird’s tenure. Nebraska, Michigan State and Indiana are now the only three remaining undefeated Big Ten teams ahead of conference play, which begins for Indiana against Northwestern on Sept. 24 in Evanston, Illinois.
The Hoosiers will look to finish the non-conference slate undefeated at the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic against Western Kentucky University on Sept. 19 and Bradley University on Sept. 20 at the E.A Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
