With Indiana volleyball trailing 18-13 in the second set, the typically electric Wilkinson Hall— usually a key advantage for the Hoosiers — fell silent as Michigan State appeared poised to even the match at one set each.
After a frustrated head coach Steve Aird called a timeout, Indiana began chipping away at the Spartans' lead, igniting the crowd as Hoosier fans slowly rose to their feet. Both the offense and defense clicked, sparking a 9-0 run to take a 22-18 lead.
The momentum carried the Hoosiers to win in four sets, avoiding the need for a decisive fifth to give Indiana its first Big Ten win of the season.
Aird attributed the run to graduate student defensive specialist Delaynie Maple, who was behind the service line for eight of the points, putting her serves in tough spots for the Spartans and earning one ace during the run.
“For me in that specific instance it’s about Delaynie being a pro.” Aird said postgame. “She’s been in so many big situations in her career and she’s an adult.”
For Maple, that poise and determination were key, as she stayed focused and helped the team take control during the run.
“It’s just us dictating the play and not waiting for the other team to dictate it,” Maple said, “We know that no matter what the score is we’re a team that’s never going to stop fighting.”
Even though the Hoosiers won the first two sets, they dropped the third and nearly lost the fourth, securing it by just three points. Aird said he was disappointed with the team’s fading effort in the final two sets, especially as their hitting percentage dropped each set, hitting just 8.3% in the fourth.
However, Aird remains confident that the team can perform better and will regroup.
“Like anything else, you take a deep breath, I’ll have a beer, I’ll come back tomorrow, we’ll train,” Aird said.
Indiana’s defense at the net was in sync, recording 13 blocks. Junior middle blocker Madi Sell set a season-high with seven blocks, while sophomore Ava Vickers tied her season-high with six. Vickers credits her mindset for her performance.
“Yes, you want to work on dropping your hand and all the little stuff,” Vickers said. “But having a mindset of ‘go block the ball’ that’s something that I know a lot of us hard players tried to focus on tonight.”
While junior outside hitter Avry Tatum led the Hoosiers offense with 19 kills, Aird said she didn’t have a great night behind the line, picking up four service errors –– the most on Indiana.
“She’ll bounce back,” Aird said. “The one thing about her is she’s resilient, she’s tough and she wants the ball in key moments, and I respect that.”
Despite Tatum's kills and the Hoosiers’ blocks up at the net, Indiana didn’t perform well behind the serving line. The Hoosiers once again put up more than 10 service errors as a team while tallying only four aces.
Aird has said numerous times throughout the season that he hasn’t been happy with how his team has been behind the line, and Friday was no different.
“I was disappointed in our serving. We’re too good of a serving team to have those types of numbers.” Aird said.
Indiana has one day off but returns to action on 1 p.m. Sunday inside Wilkinson Hall, where it will face Ohio State in its final game of its Big Ten home opening weekend.
Follow reporter Parker Rodgers (@parrod153) for updates throughout the Indiana volleyball season.
