No. 23 Indiana volleyball opened its match against No. 20 Minnesota with a service ace from freshman setter Teodora Kričković. From the back right side of court, Kričković sent her serve in the direction of Minnesota freshman libero McKenna Garr, who could not control the serve as the ball hit the ground.
Four plays later, freshman outside hitter Jaidyn Jager stood in the same place as Kričković did and recorded a service ace of her own. She placed her serve just in front of the outstretched Garr, who once again let the ball fall to the floor.
The early success from the service line set the tone for the Hoosiers, but the Golden Gophers were able to create service pressure of their own throughout the night.
The difference between the two squads Friday night was their ability to respond to the high pressure from the service line, as both recorded 10 service aces each throughout the night. Minnesota still found its rhythm offensively — spreading the ball around to its attackers via its setter — while Indiana did not. It led the Golden Gophers to a 3-1 victory over the Hoosiers at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington.
After a hot start in the first set gave Indiana a 4-1 advantage, a service ace from junior setter Georgia Lee tied the set at 8 points. The succeeding kill from freshman outside hitter Kelly Kinney then gave the Golden Gophers a lead they would not surrender.
Indiana once again took an early advantage in the second set, including an ace from Jager for the Hoosiers’ second point. Kills from Kinney and senior outside hitter Julia Hanson gave Minnesota its first lead of the set at 9-8, which it once again did not give up.
The two teams stayed close for most of the set until Minnesota pulled away with a 5-0 run that included four service aces with redshirt freshman setter Stella Swenson at the line.
Minnesota won the first two sets 25-19 before the Hoosiers stormed back to win the third set 25-18. The once sluggish looking Indiana looked rejuvenated. Kričković opened the third set with an ace and Indiana never looked back, recording 15 kills, three service aces and 1.5 blocks during the third game.
In the final set, the Hoosiers reverted to their play from earlier in the match — unable to find their rhythm — and once again fell 25-19.
Even though the service statistics were similar for Indiana and Minnesota, eighth-year Indiana head coach Steve Aird struggled to pinpoint what exactly was different for the two teams.
“When we pass the ball and control the ball and got it to T (Kričković), we looked fine. And better than fine for stretches,” Aird said after the match. “And then, you know, we got aced 10 times. That’s a lot of serve-receive pressure.”
The struggles with the serve-receive aspect made it more difficult for Indiana’s trio of attackers to make an impact. While senior pin hitters Candela Alonso-Corcelles and Avry Tatum recorded 15 and 12 kills, respectively, and Jager added 10, their efforts were neutralized by a trio of Golden Gophers.
Minnesota’s Hanson, Kinney and freshman opposite hitter Carly Gilk all recorded double-digit kills of their own. Hanson tallied a game-high 17 kills while Kinney and Gilk had 15 and 12, respectively. The high number of kills was a testament to Minnesota’s ability to find offensive control despite pressure from the service line. Swenson had 49 total assists on the night.
Aird analogized serve-receive struggles in volleyball to shooting free throws in basketball.
“The equivalent is the basketball free throw,” Aird said. “When everyone’s like ‘Make your free throws,’ they feel like teams don’t practice it. It’s like all we do is practice serve-receive and serving. So, we’re doing the right stuff. We just got to get better.”
Even with the loss to Minnesota, Aird isn’t worried about where the team sits with 11 matches remaining in the regular season, four of which are against teams in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. If anything, it was a reminder to him that his team belongs where it is, amongst the best in the nation.
“At the end of the day, it’s the Big Ten and it’s hard to win and every win matters, and we’ve got an opportunity Sunday to get to 7-3 for the first 10 and that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Aird said. “I think we’re doing a lot of really good things. We just got to get back to the gym and keep going.”
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
