INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana and Purdue volleyball faced off Thursday night for its annual rivalry — the Monon Spike Match. However, this time wasn’t like any other volleyball match. This match made history.
The Hoosiers and Boilermakers played inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, marking the first-ever volleyball game played inside the professional basketball arena. While Gainbridge isn’t the Hoosiers typical home court, Indiana was the designated home team as the program chose to give up its true home game in the home and home series to put on the event.
Despite Indiana being unable to defeat its rival, falling to the Boilermakers in four sets, the Hoosiers showed resilience and gained something more than a win. The match served as a milestone for Indiana and exemplified the growth of both the Hoosiers program and the sport.
“For us I thought it was good for the program, I thought it was good for the sport,” head coach Steve Aird said. “The right thing to do for the sport. And I have no regrets doing it. I thought it was a fantastic event.”
Indiana and Purdue volleyball have not been evenly matched in recent years, as the Hoosiers are just 1-9 against the Boilermakers in the last 10 matchups. However, this year, the No. 22 ranked Indiana squad gave No. 12 Purdue a real test.
After falling in the first set to the Boilermakers, Indiana stormed back in the second to defeat Purdue 25-17. The second-set win came despite one of the Hoosiers’ key players in sophomore middle blocker Ella Boersema going down with a leg injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the game.
While the Hoosiers were unable to overcome Purdue in the third and fourth sets, they kept it close, scoring 20 and 21 points, respectively.
Indiana finished the night with 55 kills and a hitting average of .262. Five different Hoosiers hit over .200 in the match. Freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray led the Hoosiers offensively with an overall hitting average of .643 and a career-high 10 kills.
As a whole, the Hoosiers tallied more kills and digs than the Boilermakers, but the key differences laid in serve-receive and blocking. Indiana picked up five fewer blocks than Purdue and was unable to pass in system consistently, suffering 10 serve-receive aces.
After the match, Purdue head coach Dave Shondell complimented the Hoosiers performance.
“Indiana’s really good,” Shondell said. “They’ve got a really good team, and for a group that’s got so many young players, to step out and perform the way that they did.
The game, played in front of a crowd of 6,450 people, became the largest home crowd for the Hoosiers since 2008 when they played a match inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall — a contest that brought in over 8,000 fans.
The loss became Indiana’s second straight defeat, as they fell to Michigan State 3-0 on Oct. 12. The Hoosier’s record still sits at 14-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
While a win would have been sweet for the Hoosiers, Aird didn’t dwell on the loss postgame .
“So, on the whole, incredibly proud of the program for being in this position, not a situation where we’re gonna pout or spend much time about, you know,” Aird said. “It wasn’t a Super Bowl, it was the seventh match of the Big Ten season. We can grow. We can develop. We’ll keep getting better. And I was incredibly proud to be part of a pretty special event tonight.”
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
