Despite a new-look roster, Indiana volleyball already matched its 2024-25 season win total on Oct. 19 with a win over Ohio State at Wilkinson Hall. Last season, the Hoosiers finished with an overall record of 15-15. Now, Indiana is 15-3 on the season and 6-2 in the Big Ten, with just 12 games remaining in its regular season schedule.
Indiana will now look to surpass that win total with a pair of weekend matches against No. 20 Minnesota and Northwestern at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers defeated the struggling Ohio State in four sets, which dropped them one place in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll released Monday. The Hoosiers entered the rankings after a pair of wins over then-No. 17 USC on Oct. 3 and then-No. 24 UCLA on Oct. 4, which put them at No. 20. Since then, Indiana has fallen to No. 23.
Indiana has been led offensively by a trio of pin hitters. Freshman Jaidyn Jager leads Indiana with 3.44 kills per set, while seniors Avry Tatum and Candela Alonso-Corcelles each average 3.37 kills per set.
Sophomore middle blocker Ella Boersema recorded 59 total blocks for the Hoosiers before she suffered an injury against Purdue on Oct. 16. Senior middle blocker Madi Sell and freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray have continued to fill that role for Indiana, as the duo averages 1.08 and 1.13 blocks per set, respectively.
The match against Minnesota will mark the first-ever top 25 contest played inside Wilkinson Hall. The Golden Gophers have not recorded a ranked win yet this season, but their four losses came to then-No. 9 Texas A&M, Michigan, UCLA and Oregon. Of those four opponents, Indiana has already bested both Michigan and UCLA and has yet to play the Aggies or Ducks.
Senior outside hitter Julia Hanson is the Golden Gophers' leading point getter this season. She has played in 18 of Minnesota’s 19 matches and averages 4.46 points per set, and her 3.85 kills per set ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
Minnesota’s defensive efforts are led by freshman middle blocker Jordan Taylor. She averages 1.30 blocks per set, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten. Junior defensive specialist Zeynep Palabiyik averages 3.73 kills per set, and freshman defensive specialist McKenna Garr averages 3.46 digs per set, which rank fourth and seventh in the conference, respectively.
Sunday will mark the second meeting between Indiana and Northwestern this season. The first came Sept. 24 in Evanston, Illinois — the Hoosiers’ first conference matchup of the season.
Indiana took the first set of the match, but Northwestern came storming back to take the second 25-16. The Hoosiers then won the third and fourth sets to record their first conference win of the year. Jager recorded a game-high 17 kills in the match. Tatum and Alonso-Corcelles recorded 14 and 13 kills, respectively.
Indiana struggled to contain a trio of outside hitters that included senior Rylen Reid, junior Campbell Paris and first year Bella Bullington in the match. Reid recorded a total of 16 kills. Paris and Bullington each recorded nine kills, with Paris adding three total blocks.
After losing their first conference match to the Hoosiers, the Wildcats sit at 3-5 in the conference, which puts them in the bottom half of the Big Ten standings. Northwestern has played two other ranked Big Ten opponents in then-No. 19 Penn State and then-No. 10 Minnesota. The Wildcats fell to both teams in four sets. Northwestern plays No. 1 Nebraska on Friday in Lincoln, Nebraska, ahead of its match against Indiana.
Just as she did in the first meeting between Indiana and Northwestern, Ried leads her team in kills with 3.25 per set. First year middle blocker Kayla Kauffman — who had just three block assists against the Hoosiers — holds a team-high 1.20 blocks per set.
The Hoosiers will take on the Golden Gophers at 6 p.m. Friday on Big Ten Network and the Wildcats at 1 p.m. Sunday on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
