Volleyball Central: at No. 1 Wisconsin

Sunday, September 24

Madison, Wisc.

2:00 PM

Indiana University

#1 Wisconsin

9/23/2023 10:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Indiana Match Notes (PDF)

MADISON, Wisc. – The Indiana Volleyball team (11-3, 1-0) takes an eight-game winning streak to the Wisconsin capital on Sunday afternoon to face the top-ranked Badgers at 2:00 PM EST in UW Field House.

The match will be streamed via the BTN+ app with Jon Green (PxP) and Haleigh Nelson (Color) on the call as IU plays its first road test of the Big Ten season.

This will be the 14th matchup in program history against the No. 1 team in the nation and the third-straight occurrence it's come against Wisconsin. The two teams played back-to-back days in the COVID-19 shortened spring 2021 season.

IU beat Illinois 3-1 on Wednesday evening to kick off the conference season, winning a third-consecutive Big Ten home opener under head coach Steve Aird. Wisconsin opened their Big Ten slate on Friday night in Evanston against Northwestern.

Sunday's match will be the first of two meetings between the squads with the reverse fixture set for Sunday, November 19th in Bloomington for IU's senior day.

Match Info
Sunday, September 24, 2023 | at No. 1 Wisconsin | 2:00 PM ET
TV: BTN+
Watch
Live Stats

Hoosier News and Notes
Team Breakdown
• The Hoosiers opened their 2023 campaign at the Indiana Invitational, sweeping New Hampshire, Southern Indiana and Radford in commanding victories.

• IU tested itself early in the season with a trip to the Long Beach Invitational. A tough weekend at The Beach, which featured three defeats and eight of nine set loss by four of fewer points, was a strong litmus test for the Hoosiers in the early going of the season.

• With a straight sweep of opponents at the Stacheville Challenge and four wins at the 305 Challenge, IU won seven-straight contests heading into Big Ten play.

• 12 players from last year's roster return including All-Big Ten junior setter Camryn Haworth, junior outside hitter Mady Saris, sophomore outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles and senior middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede.

• IU adds Cincinnati transfer Avry Tatum (OPP) as well as talented freshmen Ramsey Gary (L), Ava Vickers (MB) and Luca Fickell (S) to the roster.

The Hoosiers
• IU closed out non-conference play with four wins in Miami at the 305 Challenge including an impressive five-set thriller over Miami (FL) on its home court.

• Graduate student Kaley Rammelsberg as well as Haworth and Saris were All-Tournament selections at the Stacheville Challenge (Sept. 8-9) as IU handled opponents in three easy sweeps.

• Haworth followed that up by winning the program's first Big Ten weekly honor of the season (Setter of the Week) after an impressive showing at the 305 Challenge (Sept. 15-16).

• A perfect weekend in Miami ensured the Hoosiers 10 wins in the non-conference for the first time since 2019 and be the fourth season since the turn of the century the program brought 10+ wins and at least one power five victory home out of the preseason.

• Steve Aird became the first coach in program history with multiple seasons of 10+ wins in non-conference with at least one true road win over Power Five team (2019 and 2023).

• IU's nine victories by sweep in the non-conference were the most since winning nine during the 2010 preseason.

• To follow up a strong end to the preseason slate, IU beat Illinois 3-1 at Wilkinson Hall to kick off the Big Ten season. The Hoosiers blocked the Illini 18 times with a career-high 12 stuffs from Kjolhede.

• As a team, the Hoosiers are 1st in the Big Ten and 10th nationally with 2.28 aces per set. In total, IU has 107 aces on the season including 36 from Haworth (No. 1 in Big Ten and NCAA).

• The Hoosiers are 9th in the NCAA and 1st in the Big Ten in total team blocks, racking up 131.0 stuffs across the first 14 matches of the season.

• IU is holding opponents to just .140 hitting offensively which ranks second in the Big Ten this season, only behind national leader Nebraska (.101).

Building on Momentum
• The Hoosiers took a massive step forward in the 2022 season, playing to 16 total wins including nine in the conference. IU finished eighth in the conference last year after being picked 13th to begin the season.

• IU won nine conference games in 2022 compared to four in 2021 which marked a five-win increase, tied for the second-biggest jump in program history.

• An overall jump from 10 to 16 wins in 2022 was tied for the third-biggest improvement between seasons in program history.

Returning Numbers
• IU returns a strong core of athletes from its 2022 team including six of seven starters. Coming along with that includes a large majority of team statistics from last year that return for another go-around. The Hoosiers return 98.4% of kills and 96.8% of blocks from last year's roster.

• Four different players on IU's roster last year had 200+ kills and all four athletes return including Saris, Alonso-Corcelles, Kjolhede and junior outside hitter Morgan Geddes.

Player Watch
#10 Haworth, Camryn
• Haworth has built on an impressive 2022 season, continuing her fine form into 2023 as a junior and a team captain. She leads the conference in aces (36) and assists (459).

• She became the first IU athlete to earn First Team All-Big Ten honors since 2010 (Ashley Benson) and was named to the 2023 Preseason All-Big Ten team.

• The Fishers, Ind. native became the 11th player in program history to record 2,000 assists, crossing the mark in a 33-assist effort against Jacksonville on September 16th.

• She is tied for second all-time in aces during the rally era (127) and could challenge for the rally-era ace record (130) this season across IU's 33 matches. She is one of just 19 IU players all-time to have ever recorded 100+ aces. Overall, she is tied for seventh all-time in program history with 127 aces.

• For her career, Haworth has 2,074 assists, 551 digs and 127 aces. She is just the fourth player in program history with 2,000+ assists, 500+ digs and 100+ aces in an IU uniform.

• She matched her career high with 51 assists in a win at Miami (FL), the third time in her career she's recorded 50+ assists in a single match. She has had four or more aces on seven occasions in her time at IU including a five-ace performance over Stetson.

• The junior was named the conference's setter of the week after her performance in Miami, becoming the first IU player to win a Big Ten weekly award in consecutive seasons since Ashley Benson (2009-10). She has four double-doubles on the season, her last coming against Illinois.

#4 Saris, Mady
• Mady Saris finished 6th in the Big Ten in kills (427) last year, 8th in kills per set (3.47) and 6th in points (489) as the Hoosiers' top offensive weapon in 2022.

• Saris is in line to become the next member of the 1,000 kill club at IU. She has 836 kills through two seasons and would become the 20th athlete to eclipse the mark in an IU uniform.

• She reached double-digit kills in all three games at the Indiana Invitational including 14 in a victory over Southern Indiana. For her career, she's reached 10+ kills on 48 occasions across three seasons.

• The junior has started and contested in all 78 matches of her collegiate career. She was named to the Stacheville Challenge All-Tournament team after recording 38 kills in three matches.

• A six-rotation outside hitter for the Hoosiers, Saris is IU's first choice on offense and has been a consistent rock in the lineup since arriving in 2021. She has 130 kills on the season for the Hoosiers.

#18 Rammelsberg, Kaley
• The graduate student had the most productive weekend of any Hoosier this season, earning Tournament MVP honors at the Stacheville Challenge after putting away 25 kills and blocking 23 shots.

• For her career, between stops at IU and High Point, Rammelsberg has 849 kills, 346 blocks and 1075.5 points while hitting a collective .341with 1841 attempts.

• IU's all-time hitting percentage list is based on athletes with over 1,000 career attempts in the Cream and Crimson. In three seasons, she has hit .317 which is second in program history.

• Her 23 blocks across the three-game Stacheville Challenge were the most in a three-match span by an IU athlete since the 2014 campaign.

• She followed up her impressive weekend with a 15-kill effort in the win over Miami (FL) just one from matching her career high set at Georgia Tech in 2021. Rammelsberg is top-10 in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.377) and total blocks (51.0) this season.

#15 Kjolhede, Savannah
• The Colleyville, Texas native was one of the Big Ten's best blockers last year and is 8th among active Big Ten players in blocks (294).

• She is 14th all-time in blocks at IU and is also the 14th athlete with 300+ blocks in an IU uniform. It would take 325 total stuffs to crack the top-10 in IU's all-time ranks.

• The veteran middle has played in 94 games of her college career and has started 91 of those including all 18 during her freshman campaign which was shortened by COVID-19. The only games she missed was against Radford and Lindenwood in which she was a healthy, unused sub.

• She and Rammelsberg have combined to play 210 matches, put away 1,385 kills and reject 652 shots during their collegiate careers: making them one of the most veteran duos in college volleyball. Duke's middle blocker duo (229 career matches) and Dayton's (226) are the only ones confirmed to have played more.

• Against Illinois, she blocked a career-high 12 shots, becoming just the seventh player in program history with 12-or-more blocks in a single game. She passed 300 career blocks during the match and helped lead IU to 18 total team blocks in the dominant victory.

#32 Gary, Ramsey
• One of the top-rated prep liberos in the 2023 class, Gary has lived up to the billing early in her college career. She has 191 digs across 14 matches including three 15+ dig efforts over the weekend in Miami

• Her 191 digs are most among Big Ten freshmen and most among Power Five freshmen in the NCAA this year ahead of Illinois's Lily Barry (156) in both categories.

• Gary's 24 digs in the win over Illinois were not only a career high but the most in a single game by an IU freshman since Caitlin Cox in 2008.

BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
Hoosiers among middle group of teams.
• IU was picked 8th in the Big Ten Preseason Volleyball poll, its highest mark since the conference begin ranking all 14 teams.

• Camryn Haworth made the Preseason All-Big Ten team, IU's first such honor since the 2010 season (Ashley Benson).

Opponent Breakdown: Illinois
Series History: 24-58 (Wisconsin leads) | Last Meeting: 11/6/22 (L, 1-3)

• The top-ranked Badgers boast a talented and experienced lineup and are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Ten.
• Wisconsin runs a 6-2 lineup with Izzy Ashburn and MJ Hammill serving as the two setters.
• Julia Orzol has spent a majority of the time in the libero jersey this year. Sarah Franklin and Devyn Robinson pace a strong offensive attack.
• Anna Smrek and Carter Booth have been elite options for the Badgers this year and pose physical advantages for Kelly Sheffield's team.