On paper, No. 17 Indiana volleyball is a much more complete team than Rutgers.
The Hoosiers are better in nearly every major statistical category — kills, hitting percentage, blocks and assists — compared to the Scarlet Knights, who sit in second-to-last place in the Big Ten standings. Indiana has been an offensive force this season, while Rutgers has allowed one of the worst opponent hitting percentages in the conference.
And that drastic difference was evident in the squads’ contest Thursday night at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers pulled out a 3-0 win over the Scarlet Knights for their 13th Big Ten win of the season, which marked a program record for Indiana. It held Rutgers to 17 points in the first set, and then just 12 and 15 in the second and third sets, respectively.
Thursday marked the second straight match where Indiana hit above .450. Against Maryland on Nov. 16, Indiana hit .456, and all five of the Hoosiers’ primary attackers hit at or above the .360 mark with five or more kills.
Indiana achieved a similar stat line against Rutgers with a hitting percentage of .455. Four of the five main Hoosier attackers recorded four or more kills and hit above .389.
It was a stark contrast to Rutgers’ –.042 hitting rate, with just one of its primary hitters — sophomore outside hitter Aspen Maxwell — hitting above .125. Maxwell had seven kills, but no other Scarlet Knight recorded more than four on Thursday night.
“The offensive part of our game is a strength,” Indiana head coach Steve Aird said after the match. “We worked very hard on team defense the last few days, and that’s where I think the blocking numbers I’m most proud of.”
The 14-block performance was led by senior middle blocker Madi Sell, who recorded seven blocks in the match, with two of those being solo blocks. Senior opposite hitter Avry Tatum and freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray tallied five and four total blocks, respectively.
The one area where the Scarlet Knights created problems for the Hoosiers was from the service line. Rutgers leads the Big Ten in service aces per set with 1.81, and it kept the efficiency going against Indiana.
The Scarlet Knights recorded seven service aces in the match. They found ways to force Indiana out of rhythm from the service line, which Aird said led to some “ugly” passing from his team.
“We pass and serve every single day,” Aird said. “I feel like we’re a pretty good passing team and uncharacteristic, but again, good on Rutgers. I mean, the fact that they’re such a good serving team has given them a lot of life this year.”
Indiana now faces the best team in the country in No. 1 Nebraska on Saturday at Wilkinson Hall. The Cornhuskers are 27-0, and with their 3-0 win over Iowa on Thursday, they clinched a share of the Big Ten title. Nebraska leads the Big Ten in kills per set (14.7), hitting percentage (.349) and blocks per set (2.73).
“The only thing I’ll say is that there’s no one in the program that’s scared,” Aird said of his team’s attitude toward playing Nebraska. “We’ll compete. Winning and losing is binary, but we’ll throw out best shot, play as hard as we can.”
It will be Indiana’s most difficult test of the season, as Nebraska has swept all but one Big Ten opponent this season. The Cornhuskers have been nearly unstoppable this season, and Aird repeated the fact that he just wants his team to go on the court Saturday and try their best.
“They’ve really, really played well against everyone so far this year,” Aird said. “So, for us, it's not like a moral victory thing or you’re trying to do x and y. I want to throw our best punch and if you win, you win. If you lose, you lose.”
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
