IU volleyball will take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in its season opener at home Friday. Nebraska has four seniors on its roster — three more than Indiana — and is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation in the AVCA Coaches poll.
The Cornhuskers have a 17-game winning streak against the Hoosiers. The last time IU was victorious was in 1978.
Head coach Steve Aird and his staff have dealt with positive COVID-19 tests, quarantines and uncertainty about the season within the program in the past ten months, while also facing nationwide social issues and stressors this offseason.
“It’s been the hardest coaching year of my life,” Aird said. “Every single part of our operation got touched by [COVID-19] in some capacity. It was kind of day by day, we would see what we were allowed to do and we would stay within those parameters.”
But rather than focusing on their hardships, Aird and his team are grateful and appreciative for the opportunities they have. To have practices and a successful season, everyone must be tested every day while also following social distancing and mask-wearing precautions as described by IU Athletics.
“We are just extremely grateful,” senior captain Brooke Westbeld said. “There are so many people that are making it happen for us. We’re so lucky, there’s not a second we’re taking for granted.”
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This will be Aird’s third season with the IU volleyball program. Since he arrived, the team has seen improvements in recruiting, on-court performance and fan attendance. In 2019, the Hoosiers set program records for attendance and were No. 15 in the country with an average of 1,809 fans per match.
However, no fans will be in attendance at the Hoosiers’ matches this season due to safety precautions. While this may be concerning for some teams, Aird said he and his players are unfazed.
“Everyone is super passionate, everyone’s really excited to be here,” sophomore captain Emily Fitzner said. “We have a great group of girls that just all want each other to succeed.”
The eight-player 2020 recruiting class was the highest ranked in program history at No. 15 in the country by Prepvolleyball.com, with multiple players holding impressive accolades. The group of freshmen contains Under Armour All-American middle blockers Leyla Blackwell and Savannah Kjolhede, as well as No. 32 ranked outside hitter Tommi Stockham.
“We’ve done some good things in the first couple years, but none I’m more proud of than the recruiting we’ve done and the class we’ve brought in,” Aird said. “In a lot of ways, I feel like we’re at the beginning now.”
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The Hoosiers’ roster is primarily made up of underclassmen; eight freshmen, four sophomores, three juniors and one senior. Westbeld, the team’s lone senior, transferred to IU in 2020. This will be her first season with the team, and she has already embraced her role.
“I love being in a leadership role,” Westbeld said. “I definitely knew what I was getting myself into, it’s actually one of the reasons I came.”
With half of the team being freshmen, the Hoosiers will be a younger and more inexperienced team than most of those they face, but that doesn’t concern them. In fact, Stockham said she lists that as one of the reasons as to why she chose IU — she knew she would have chances to start as a freshman.
“That was a huge bonus for me,” Stockham said. “Steve was super straightforward with me and we connected right off the bat. I know that he has my back one hundred percent.”
Aird has said multiple times he wants to help his young players grow and improve the program overall in the future, and there is no better time to start than right now.
“The plan for me is to get the young people as much experience as possible,” Aird said. “We’re going to start four or five freshmen and I think that’s great.”
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While Nebraska is known throughout the country for their talent, Aird is not overly focused on them, thinking instead about his team’s potential for the whole season and beyond.
“I think we’re going to be more competitive than people think,” Aird said. “I’ve been to six final fours and won two titles. I know what good looks like. We’re just trying to start to recreate that in training every day.”
