After No. 4-seeded Indiana volleyball won the first two sets in its NCAA Tournament second round match against the No. 5-seeded University of Colorado Boulder, the Buffaloes were looking to take a set off the Hoosiers.
Indiana had cruised past Colorado in the first two sets, not allowing the Buffaloes to surpass 20 points — just like they had in three sets against the University of Toledo on Thursday in the first round of the tournament.
However, the Buffaloes were proving to be a challenge in the third set. After taking the first point, Colorado didn’t allow Indiana to take over. While the Hoosiers repeatedly tied the score, the Buffaloes wouldn’t let Indiana steal their lead.
Then, a kill from Colorado junior middle blocker Cayla Payne sparked something in the Buffaloes. They went on a 5-1 run to take a 21-16 lead over Indiana.
But the Hoosiers weren’t done. After trading points, Colorado’s lead sat at 22-17. That’s when Indiana took off.
Graduate student outside hitter Jessica Smith, who didn’t play Thursday and had not yet entered the contest Friday due to “physical” reasons, stepped to the service line. From there, Indiana came storming back into control.
The Hoosiers scored six consecutive points with Smith at the end line to take their first lead of the set at 23-22. And three rallies later, Indiana was celebrating its second-round sweep of Colorado on the court with each other and in the crowd with Hoosier fans inside Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington.
Indiana head coach Steve Aird said he could tell the Buffaloes were playing with their season on the line, and Colorado’s intense play “rattled” his squad.
“I thought we were hoping maybe for a few more errors or mishaps instead of trying to shut the door,” Aird said. “But the last six to eight points is Indiana volleyball. It's tough. It’s relentless. We play hard. We believe. We trust the system. We trust each other.”
The third set was a key demonstration of the Hoosiers' resilience, which has been present since the first match of the season when Indiana reverse-swept the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. And it's the resilience Indiana needs as it heads into the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals Dec. 11-12, as the awaiting opponent will either be No. 1-seeded University of Texas or No. 8-seeded Penn State.
While Indiana swept Penn State earlier in the regular season, the reigning National Champions possess postseason experience the Hoosiers don’t. The Nittany Lions have gone through the tournament bracket before and picked up wins at every stage.
On the other hand, Indiana hadn’t made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 before this season. Most of its players are freshmen, except for a few key veterans.
Texas presents the challenge of a more experienced team, but the Longhorns have also consistently been one of the top teams in the country this season. They’ve recorded just three losses this season, two to the No. 1-seeded University of Kentucky and one to No. 3-seeded Texas A&M University, which are both still alive in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s almost inevitable that Indiana will find itself trailing at some point in its match against either Texas or Penn State. For the Hoosiers to advance, they're going to have to play with the same strength and fight they did in the third set Friday night.
Despite the competition and stakes rising as the Hoosiers advance, Aird is adamant in not changing the process that has brought his team this far. He said it Thursday after Indiana’s win over Toledo in the first round; he reiterated it Friday after the second round.
“Nothing will change,” Aird said of the preparation for the regional semifinals. “It’ll be exactly the same as every single match for, what was that, 31 matches now? Yep, that’ll be the same thing. I don’t blow in the wind. It’s what we do.”
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
