Indiana volleyball knew it would have its hands full taking down No. 19 Penn State inside Rec Hall — a venue the Hoosiers were 0-33 at entering the matchup — in University Park, Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions are the defending national champions and a blue-blood volleyball program.
However, Indiana did not shy away from the challenge. In fact, it took the challenge head-on in its sweep over the Nittany Lions on Sunday behind significant performances from freshman Jaidyn Jager and senior Avry Tatum.
The two pin hitters led the Hoosiers offensively throughout the night and came up with critical points when Indiana needed them the most.
Penn State took its first lead of the game in the third set and led by as many as 5 points in the middle of the set. However, Jager and Tatum were always there to respond.
Back-to-back kills from Jager in the third set tied the game at 17. Then, just a few points later, a kill by Tatum pushed the Hoosiers back in the lead with the score at 21-20. Tatum kept the momentum going by tallying two more kills and a block assist in the last 4 points to seal the three-set victory for the Hoosiers.
Tatum finished the night with 14 kills, two blocks, three service aces and an overall hitting percentage of .357. Meanwhile, Jager tallied 14 kills to go along with 12 digs and an attacking average of .393. The pair were the only Indiana hitters to finish hitting over .200.
Senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles, freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray, senior middle blocker Madi Sell and freshman setter Teodora Kričković also contributed to the offense Sunday afternoon. Alonso-Corcelles and Gray finished with eight and four kills, respectively. Sell and Kričković combined for three kills. As a team, Indiana accumulated 43 total kills and held the Nittany Lions to just 36 kills.
The win was the Hoosiers’ first ever victory in Pennsylvania and just the second ever win over Penn State in program history. Indiana passed the Nittany Lions in the conference standings and are now tied with Wisconsin for third place with a 9-3 record.
The victory continued Indiana’s already historic season in which the Hoosiers got off to their best start in program history and cracked the top 25 poll for the first time in 15 years.
With just eight regular season matches remaining, Indiana will look to continue its momentum into the end of the season and make a case for the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana will next hit the court at 6 p.m. Friday in Bloomington for a matchup with Iowa. The game will be streamed 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.
