As No. 18 Indiana volleyball sat up 2 points over Oregon in the third set, it needed a signature point to keep momentum in its favor.
Oregon graduate student outside hitter Sophia Meyers had just recorded a kill that gave the Hoosiers just a 18-16 advantage and sent her to the service line.
After multiple point-saving digs from both sides, the Ducks made another attempt to take the point, but the effort was denied by senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles.
Hoosier fans raised their arms in celebration, while the Indiana bench jumped and cheered. Alonso-Corcelles turned to assistant coach Matt Kearns, who stood courtside, and gave him a celebratory shove before she was hugged by freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray and smiled with her other teammates on the court.
The block was just one of the 13.5 points Alonso-Corcelles recorded in the Hoosiers’ 3-1 victory over the Ducks on Friday night at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington. The win marked Alonso-Corcelles' 39th Big Ten win in her four-year career at Indiana — which set a program record.
“It’s a pleasure,” Alonso-Corcelles said postgame of her program record. “Being here for four years and knowing that — I didn’t even know that. But knowing that, it's just like, I don’t know, I feel like of course it's just so good and thanks always to my team. I couldn’t have done this without my team so it's always a pleasure.”
The Madrid, Spain, native has played in nearly all the Hoosiers’ matches throughout her four-year career at Indiana. In that span, she’s tallied 1,293 kills — 10 of which were from Friday night — which moved her to 10th in the program for the most kills in Indiana history.
Alonso-Corcelles has been around the program through some of its more mediocre seasons — 16-16 in 2022 and 15-15 in 2024 — and its historic seasons, including this one.
She was there for Indiana’s sixth 20-win season in program history in 2023. The Hoosiers reached that 20-win mark for the seventh time with their victory over Oregon on Friday. And Indiana still has five regular season matches left to play.
For Alonso-Corcelles, the 20-win season was proof of the effort she and her teammates have put in all season long. That work has helped Indiana to one of its most historic seasons in history and the potential to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
“We are working so hard,” Alonso-Corcelles said. “Everything that you guys are seeing and like, the winning is because we deserve it. We’re practicing and doing things really hard. So, I think it's just the result of hard work.”
Two of those seven 20-win seasons have come under head coach Steve Aird, who was quick to recognize other members of the program for the Hoosiers’ success before his own contributions.
“It’s a testament to the players. It’s a testament to the staff. Testament of the staff’s ability to recruit,” Aird said. “It’s the whole village, right? It’s the training staff, strength and conditioning. And bringing in young people. It's a testament to the upper classmen getting them on board quickly.”
Indiana has a chance to claim its 21st win of the season at noon Sunday in Wilkinson Hall against Maryland, which sits at the very bottom of the Big Ten standings with just one conference win this season.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
