Indiana volleyball was last seen in Raleigh, North Carolina, when it came up short against Texas Christian University in a five-set battle.
Now, the Hoosiers will travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to compete in the Western Kentucky University Invitational against Texas A&M University, Tennessee Tech University and Western Kentucky University.
Indiana starts its tournament 2 p.m. Friday, as they face off against Texas A&M University. Bird Kuhn, the 2019 Southern Eastern Conference Coach of the Year, leads the Aggies, who are currently on a five-match winning streak.
Texas A&M is highlighted by its powerful pair of attackers in freshman opposite Logan Lednicky and graduate outside hitter Caroline Meuth. Lednicky and Meuth have both accumulated over 100 kills this season.
Indiana will play Friday evening against Tennessee Tech, who holds a 3-6 record. The Golden Eagles boast wins against the University of Evansville, Loyola University Maryland and Ohio University. Sophomore outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen is a focal point of the team with 112 kills so far.
Indiana’s final challenge of the weekend will be against a dominant mid major team, Western Kentucky University. Western Kentucky holds a 9-1 record, losing to University of Louisville. The last time these two teams met in 2007 the Hoosiers lost the home game 3-1.
[Related: Indiana volleyball falls to NC State, TCU in the NC State Classic]
Head coach Steve Aird is aware of the difficult road matches this weekend buts sees the value in playing them once conference play rolls around the corner.
“Our intention building the schedule was to play really good teams,” Aird said. “Going into the Big Ten, it is important to challenge yourself and play against quality opponents.
Indiana volleyball has seen massive improvement this season compared to last year. The Hoosiers have won five non-conference games thus far compared to its six total last season. Additionally, for the first time with Aird as the head coach, five Hoosiers recorded 10 or more kills in one match.
Fans will be able to watch a broadcast of the match against Western Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on the Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network. The other two games will not be broadcast.
