To kick off the volleyball season, Indiana traveled down to Kennesaw, Georgia, where it competed in two games at the Kennesaw State Invitational. The first was against the hosts, Kennesaw State University, on Friday night, then the following morning, the Hoosiers faced Wichita State University for an early Saturday matchup.
While the Hoosiers brought out the brooms during Friday night’s match against the Owls, Saturday morning posed more of a challenge for Indiana. It went to five sets with the Shockers, where after a back-and-forth match, the Hoosiers came out victorious.
Indiana’s offense shined in both games, with junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum, senior outside hitter Mady Saris and junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles all reaching double digit kills in both games during the invitational. Captain and senior setter Camryn Haworth also contributed to the Hoosiers’ dominant offense, picking up 90 assists over the two games.
Sophomore libero Ramsey Gary helped on the defensive end, leading the team in digs both games with 12 each.
Tatum gave everything for the Hoosiers offensively against the Owls, as she led the Hoosiers with 16 kills while hitting at an impressive .778. She also recorded two service aces in the first and third sets.
Despite Indiana’s strong offensive performances, it struggled with serving from the line. The Hoosiers recorded 14 service errors, with half of the errors from set one.
Even with the inconsistency from the line, Indiana managed to win set one 25-21, thanks to an early successful challenge by head coach Steve Aird and a 6-0 run following that. Alonso Corcelles also contributed three aces in the set.
Set two saw Indiana face early difficulties returning the serve, as it fell behind 7-3 after two aces from sophomore setter Kourtney Brown and another from junior outside hitter Manu Johnsen.
The Hoosiers quickly narrowed the gap to 7-9 before KSU successfully overturned an out-of-bounds call, making it 7-10.
At 19-15, Aird used another challenge on another out-of-bounds call. However, this time, Aird was unsuccessful, but the Hoosiers regained momentum after the failed challenge by going on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 19. While KSU earned the next two points, Indiana went on a 5-0 run to win the set 25-22.
In the third and final set, Indiana found its rhythm, winning 25-16 and never allowing KSU to take the lead. The closest the Owls came was tying the Hoosiers three times. The Hoosiers improved their serving as well, with only one error, and their defense also tightened up, only committing one reception error.
While Indiana swept game one, it had a quick turnaround for its final game against Wichita State at 11 a.m. the next day.
The same three Hoosiers in the previous night’s game all recorded double digit kills again, with each of them improving from the match before. Tatum led the way with 18 kills against the Shockers.
Indiana’s defense saw an increase in numbers as it recorded nine blocks during the match, with freshman middle blocker Ella Boersema recording five of them. Haworth also earned 51 assists over the course of the match, and she was efficient from the line as she earned four aces.
After tying at 4 all in the first set, the Hoosiers struggled to keep up. Wichita State went on a 10-2 run, quickly building a 14-6 lead. Indiana narrowed the gap to only six points at 19-13, but Wichita sealed the set with a 6-1 run, winning 25-14. By the end of the first set, four Shockers had at least four kills.
Indiana quickly left the first set in the past, taking an early 8-4 lead in set two and maintaining the lead to 11-7 after a successful challenge by Aird.
The Shockers weren’t giving up, as they fought back to tie the set at 13 all, but Indiana responded with a three-point run, forcing Wichita State to use its first timeout. Indiana then extended the lead with a 4-1 run, and despite a late push from Wichita, Indiana won the set 25-18, knotting the match at a set apiece.
While the two previous sets had numerous runs from both teams, set three was the opposite. Both teams went back and forth, but Indiana found a slight lead at 15-14 with help from Tatum’s four kills and ace.
After another tie at 16 all, Wichita State took the lead with back-to-back aces, causing Indiana to use a timeout. After the timeout, Wichita then went on the only major run of the match with five points to lead 23-17. Indiana fought back to 23-21, but the Shockers ended up escaping set three with a 25-21 win.
With the game on the line, Indiana dominated set four, never allowing the Shockers to take the lead or even tie the score. Tatum led the way with five kills through the set, and Haworth provided 12 assists.
The Hoosiers also excelled from the serving line by delivering three aces — one from Saris and a pair from Alonso-Corcelles — while committing just one service error. The Hoosiers won the set 25-12, marking the largest margin of victory in the match.
In the decisive fifth set, the Shockers jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but the Hoosiers responded with a six-point run sparked by Boersema. A solo block, her fifth of the match, gave the Hoosiers a 9-6 lead.
The Shockers didn’t give up as they closed the gap and made it a one-point deficit, forcing Aird to call his first timeout in the set.
Both teams traded points until Alonso-Corcelles brought Indiana to match point at 14-12. Though the Shockers won the next point, Alonso-Corcelles sealed the win with a final kill, allowing the Hoosiers to secure a 2-0 record at the Kennesaw State Invitational.
Indiana has a quick turnaround, as it will travel back for its home opener against UC Davis at 7 p.m. Monday at Wilkinson Hall.
Follow reporter Parker Rodgers (@parrod153) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
