This weekend Indiana volleyball will take on Iowa at 8 p.m. Friday in Iowa City, Iowa, before facing Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday in Evanston, Illinois.
Here’s what you need to know about each team before the matchups:
Indiana
Indiana has a 3-9 conference record and sits 9-15 overall on the season, with a 2-6 road record compared to 3-7 at home. It has been swept seven times in the Big Ten and most recently was swept by No. 11 Minnesota and falling short to Northwestern 3-1.
Head coach Steve Aird said he wants more consistency from his outside hitters. In addition to seniors Breana Edwards and Kari Zumach, freshman Mady Seris and sophomore Morgan Geddes have been put in the position depending on who Aird feels is performing better at the time.
Indiana has had 1,047 kills this season, and its opponents have 1,082. Edwards is Indiana’s leader in kills with 294 compared to 122 errors.
Aird also said he hopes to see more control over the ball in serving and passing moving forward.
The Hoosiers have had 1,838 serving attempts with 219 errors and 104 aces. Freshman Camryn Haworth has had 31 service aces for Indiana.
Indiana senior outside hitter Kari Zumach could not play last season due to injury but is back on the court this season. Zumach had one block against Northwestern last week.
In Indiana’s last matchup with Northwestern on Oct. 30, senior outside hitter Breana Edwards led Indiana with 13 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede had eight kills and freshman outside hitter Mady Seris had five.
Iowa
Iowa is 3-19 overall and is in 13th place in the conference with a 1-11 record. The Hawkeyes are 1-8 at home on the season.
Indiana and Iowa have yet to play this year, but in the 2020-21 season, Indiana lost to Iowa 3-1 and then beat them 3-2 in their second matchup.
Iowa has had 943 kills, and its opponents have had 1,058. Iowa senior right-side hitter Courtney Buzzerio has a season high of 28 kills against Duke. Buzzerio is ranked 52 in the nation and third in the Big Ten for kills per set.
Junior libero Mari Hinkle has 222 digs and sophomore Bailey Ortega has 602 assists, recording a career-high of 47 assists against Air Force.
Iowa beat out their rival Iowa State in three sets in September. Most recently, Iowa lost to Michigan in straight sets Oct. 30 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a day after beating Michigan State 3-1 Oct. 29 in East Lansing, Michigan.
Northwestern
Northwestern is 10-13 overall and 5-7 in the conference. Northwestern is 4-4 at home and 5-7 away.
In their Oct. 30 matchup, Northwestern defeated Indiana 3-1 and had 58 kills to Indiana's 37. Northwestern junior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara is the team’s kill leader this season, with 350 so far. Temi had 19 kills against Indiana in their last matchup.
Northwestern also had eight kills, nine blocks, 52 assists and 69 digs against Indiana, winning by 34 points overall.
Most recently, Northwestern lost in three sets to No. 12 Purdue on Oct. 27. The Wildcats had 32 kills, including 15 by Thomas-Ailara.
