No. 17 Indiana volleyball is one of the more inexperienced teams in collegiate volleyball. There are seven freshmen on its roster, with five of them being in the Hoosiers’ starting lineup. The freshmen make contributions in every position on the court.
In contrast, No. 1 Nebraska is full of experienced players on its roster. Of its players who saw time on the court against Indiana, just two were freshmen — opposite hitter Virginia Adriano and outside hitter Teraya Sigler. Even then, Adriano played volleyball in Italy’s top professional volleyball league, Serie A1.
So, when the two teams met Saturday evening, the Hoosiers’ inexperience showed. Nebraska swept Indiana inside Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington, as the Cornhuskers clinched the Big Ten title with their win.
Nebraska remains undefeated this season. It continued its dominance in the Big Ten, as it has dropped just one set to a conference opponent, which came in the Cornhuskers 3-1 win over UCLA on Nov. 14.
After Indiana’s win over Rutgers on Thursday, eighth-year head coach Steve Aird said there was no one in the program scared to face Nebraska. The Hoosiers were ready. Aird just wanted his team to give it their best shot.
And even after the loss Saturday, Aird reiterated a similar feeling.
“That’s such a valuable night for so many kids, because there’ll be no one in the tournament we play that’s that good,” Aird said. “There’ll be no one in the country that we play that has that kind of, you know, they’ve got that aura to them right now as just being at a different level.”
The most important thing Aird hopes his team takes away from the match is much needed experience for his younger players.
While the Hoosiers’ freshmen have been a bright spot all season, some struggled in the contest against the Cornhuskers. Freshman outside hitter Jaidyn Jager recorded eight points for Indiana off seven kills and one service ace. However, she had eight errors on the night, which gave her a –.042 hitting percentage.
Freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray had just one kill and no blocks. Freshman setter Teodora Kričković dished out 25 assists. Freshman liberos Audrey Jackson and Avery Freeman combined for just eight digs.
They made simple mistakes, like when Kričković stepped on the service line before a serve attempt in the second set, which awarded Nebraska a point. Aird and his staff elected to pull Kričković for the remainder of the set, putting sophomore setter Sade Ilawole and junior setter Luca Fickell in until the second set was over.
“I thought our youth caught up to us tonight a little bit, just the younger kids who haven't been in that scenario so much,” Aird said. “So, I don’t think we’re bad, I just think it was a tough performance against an exceptional team.”
It was a contest for Indiana to gain that experience before the end of the regular season. With two matches left — against Illinois on Nov. 26 and Purdue on Nov. 29 — the Hoosiers still have to make their case for the NCAA Tournament, especially if they want to host the first round.
While there are plenty of veteran leaders on Indiana’s team who have played against top opponents before, the Hoosiers are in the middle of a historic season, which is unfamiliar territory for everyone. Indiana hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2010, so the experienced players — many of whom were honored with a Senior Night ceremony after Saturday’s match — haven’t been in this position either.
“If that’s what it looks like at the top, I think we can gain some confidence in that we were able to compete,” Aird said. “It wasn’t like there was no chance we were going to win, but I think the young kids would get a lot of confidence from it.”
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
