Minnesota (17-3) is expected to be a challenging opponent for IU as they are currently in first place in the Big Ten.
“We need to keep the mentality going,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. “We have to keep improving daily. I think the teams in the Big Ten right now who continue to improve are going to have chances at the end to rattle off some wins, so we want to be one of those teams who never gets stagnant. We want to look at our goals and stay on those goals.”
The Hoosiers had a short turnaround time this week with one long day of practice Monday and a shorter day of practice Tuesday.
Monday’s practice focused on technique and targeted practicing aggressive serving. Tuesday’s practice was followed by film study and scouting to gear them up for the challenging mid-week matchup.
Dunbar-Kruzan said it comes with the territory of competing in the Big Ten conference.
“Everybody faces that challenge,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “I think we’ll have a great game plan.”
As the challenge of playing the Golden Gophers quickly approaches, the Hoosiers are preparing their focus to continue improving in practices on the details they’ve stressed throughout the season.
“We need to make sure that we’re ready to go,” senior middle blocker Awele Nwaeze said. “I feel like we’re having a little more structure to practice individually as players by focusing on the details and having our captains lead.”
A key factor in playing a top ranked team like Minnesota is the confidence IU decides to bring Wednesday night.
Nwaeze and Dunbar-Kruzan said the team’s improvements and the recent win against Northwestern have helped to bring the team’s confidence back.
“I think it will help a lot,” Nwaeze said. “Especially with how we’ve been working in practice, it just helps solidify that what we do in practice does matter, and what we do in practice carries into the games so that we can beat good teams.”
