Friday, October 4
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Michigan State
Volleyball Central: Michigan State and Ohio State
10/2/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After opening conference play on the road, the Indiana Volleyball team (7-5, 0-2 B1G) returns home for three of its next four contests. Awaiting the Hoosiers is a visit from Michigan State (Friday, 7:00 PM) and Ohio State (Sunday, 1:00 PM) at Wilkinson Hall.
IU is looking for its opening win in league play. Head coach Steve Aird and company fell in three sets at now No. 25 and undefeated Washington before pushing No. 11 Oregon to the brink in a tight four-set contest on Saturday evening. All three teams (IU, Illinois, Ohio State) that went to the west coast on opening weekend went winless.
In a tough conference this year, the Hoosiers will need to hold serve at home in order to make a push at the NCAA Tournament. So far this season, Wilkinson Hall has proved to be a tough place to play. IU is 5-0 to start the campaign at home with the chance to extend that mark to 7-0 by the end of the weekend.
Veteran senior setter Camryn Haworth has begun to find her groove from the service line after a preseason injury limited her in fall camp. She had a season-high five aces in the loss at Oregon, punishing the Ducks with her top-spin jump serve. She finished with 44 assists, 11 digs and five aces, the second time in her career she's had a single match with 40+ assists, 10+ digs and 5+ aces.
Junior opposite Avry Tatum put on a show in Saturday's national television contest. She offered up 24 kills in just four sets, 10 of those coming in game three alone. She hit .395 for the entire match, eventually getting into the match for six rotations as a reliable offensive threat. On the season, the Solana Beach, Calif. Native has 158 kills and is leading the way with 3.51 per set.
Friday night will offer the Hoosiers a chance to do something that's never happened in program history. IU has never won its Big Ten home opener in four-consecutive seasons. A win over the Spartans would push the streak to four after winning the league home opener in 2021 (Michigan State), 2022 (Iowa) and 2023 (Illinois).
IU's match against Michigan State (Friday) will be a "Red Out" with all fans asked to wear red. On Sunday (Ohio State), the Hoosiers will wear purple ribbons and collect donations for the Alzheimer's Association, a cause near and dear to the hearts of their coaching staff.
Gameday Info
vs. Michigan State (Friday, October 4th – 7:00 PM ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4evXqvW
Live Stats: bit.ly/4eCcLuq
vs. Ohio State (Sunday, October 6th – 1:00 PM ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/3zJEoTx
Live Stats: bit.ly/3ZOSn50
Stat Notes
• Junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum has the most kills per set (3.51) of any Big Ten player hitting .340+ this season. She's also the league's most prolific right-side attacker. She's the team leader in both categories for the Hoosiers on the campaign.
• IU is the only school in the league with a setter (Camryn Haworth) averaging more than 10.00 assists per set and a libero (Ramsey Gary) with over 4.00 digs per set. Haworth is also fifth in the conference in total service aces (25) while playing tough competition to start the year.
Notable
Home Conference Slate Begins
• After completing its west coast trip in conference play, IU returns home to the friendly confines of Wilkinson Hall to begin its 10-game home slate in league play. The Hoosiers were resilient in a tight defeat at No. 11 Oregon (L, 1-3) on Saturday night.
• IU meets long-standing Big Ten foes, Michigan State and Ohio State, this weekend in Bloomington. Two wins at home would go a long way to boost its resume's at-large chances. The Hoosiers were 7-3 at Wilkinson Hall in Big Ten play last year.
• In Big Ten home openers under head coach Steve Aird, the Hoosiers are 4-2. IU has beaten Iowa (2022, 3-0) and Illinois (2023, 3-1) in consecutive years. The Hoosiers had 18 team blocks in a dominant defensive performance against the Fighting Illini last year. In program history, IU has never won its Big Ten home opener in four-straight seasons.
Tatum Takes Over at Oregon
• Avry Tatum has been a revelation for IU this year, developing into one of the premier opposite hitters in the conference and the country. She's averaging 3.51 kills per set and leads the team with 158 kills. Against Oregon, she had 24 kills in four sets (.395 hitting percentage) including a resounding 10 kills in set three alone.
• According to Big Ten research, Tatum and Wisconsin's Sarah Franklin are the only two Big Ten players with 10-or-more kills in a single set this year. Before Tatum, the last IU player with 10+ kills in a set was Mady Saris (11) in the first set of a road contest at Iowa (Oct. 8, 2022).
Recent Success Against Sparty
• The Hoosiers have won four-straight matches against Michigan State, dating back to 2021. IU won a pair of five-set matches in 2022 before recording 14 aces and 11 blocks in a dominant victory in East Lansing last November.
Always Close with the Buckeyes
• IU has won two of the last three matches with Ohio State but each has been extremely tight. The Hoosiers won five-set contests in 2022 (A) and 2023 (H) but lost a four-set match last November (A). All four of those sets were decided by the minimum two points.
Best Stretch of Big Ten Play
• The Hoosiers are enjoying their best run of success in Big Ten play since the turn of the century. Over the past two years, IU has won 20 conference games - the most in a two-year span since 1999-2000.
• IU hasn't won nine-plus games in three-straight seasons since 1998-2000. In the 50 years of being a varsity sport, the Hoosiers have never won 10+ league games in consecutive seasons. Last year, the Hoosiers won 11 contests in Big Ten play.
Chasing Career Marks
• Senior setter Camryn Haworth passed the 3,000-assist threshold - the 8th in program history to do so - in the contest at No. 1 Texas this year. She is now chasing 4,000 assists and is closing to moving into the top five in IU's history books.
• Along the way, Haworth is hoping to pass the all-time aces mark of 197. She's got 189 for her career, needing just 9 in 18 remaining regular season matches. She sits fourth among all Big Ten players in aces since the beginning of the 25-point rally era (2008-Present).
• Fellow senior Mady Saris is looking to become the 20th member of the 1,000-kill club at Indiana. She has 973 for her career, just 27 away from reaching the threshold. Breana Edwards (2018-21) is the only other player under head coach Steve Aird to hit the mark.
Scouting the Opponent
Michigan State (7-6, 0-2 B1G)
• The Spartans are off to a 7-6 start under third year head coach Leah Johnson. Michigan State dropped road contests to Michigan and Penn State to begin conference play. The Hoosiers have won four-straight games against the Spartans, last losing in 2019.
• Julia Bishop and Rachel Muisenga run a 6-2 system, bringing a variety of attacking options into the fray. Akasha Anderson, a transfer from Auburn, has been the most consistent. She averages 3.21 kills per set and has 151 on the season. Taylor Preston is next best at 105 kills and 2.98 points per set.
• Nalani Iosia is one of the league's most experienced liberos. The fifth-year player has 200 digs on the season (4.26 per set) for Michigan State. Zuzanna Kulig is the best blocker on the roster with 1.40 blocks per set.
Ohio State (7-5, 0-2 B1G)
• A traditional Big Ten powerhouse, Ohio State is looking to get back into the NCAA Tournament after a year away. Jen Flynn Oldenburg, a former Buckeye setter and pin hitter, has done an exceptional job in five years in Columbus. Ohio State went to the Elite Eight in 2022 before falling to Texas.
• The show starts and stops with fifth-year opposite hitter Emily Londot. The National Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, Londot is closing in on 2,000 career kills. She averages 4.35 kills per set, nearly two more than the next best attacker for Ohio State. She's transitioned back to the right side this year and still plays the full six rotations.
• Mia Tuman, a sophomore setter, is in her second year running the offense. She averages 9.79 assists per set with outside hitters Grace Egan (2.54 k/s) and Londot (4.35 k/s) doing the heavy lifting offensively. Fifth-year senior Rylee Rader (1.96 k/s) is first choice out of the middle. Under Armour All-American Emmi Sellman played her first matches over the weekend.
Inside the Series
Michigan State
• The Spartans hold the all-time advantage (53-34) but IU has been trending upwards in recent memory, winning four-straight matches between the two programs. Head coach Steve Aird is 5-2 against Sparty with the Hoosiers. IU had 14 aces enroute to a commanding win in 2023. IU won two five-set contests against Michigan State in 2022.
Ohio State
• The Buckeyes have had IU's number in the history between the two schools but the last four contests have been extremely tight. IU beat then-No. 5 Ohio State on the road in 2022, its first top-five road win in program history. The Hoosiers won a close match in Bloomington in 2023 before Ohio State returned the favor, winning 3-1 in Columbus with all four sets decided by the minimum two points.
IU is looking for its opening win in league play. Head coach Steve Aird and company fell in three sets at now No. 25 and undefeated Washington before pushing No. 11 Oregon to the brink in a tight four-set contest on Saturday evening. All three teams (IU, Illinois, Ohio State) that went to the west coast on opening weekend went winless.
In a tough conference this year, the Hoosiers will need to hold serve at home in order to make a push at the NCAA Tournament. So far this season, Wilkinson Hall has proved to be a tough place to play. IU is 5-0 to start the campaign at home with the chance to extend that mark to 7-0 by the end of the weekend.
Veteran senior setter Camryn Haworth has begun to find her groove from the service line after a preseason injury limited her in fall camp. She had a season-high five aces in the loss at Oregon, punishing the Ducks with her top-spin jump serve. She finished with 44 assists, 11 digs and five aces, the second time in her career she's had a single match with 40+ assists, 10+ digs and 5+ aces.
Junior opposite Avry Tatum put on a show in Saturday's national television contest. She offered up 24 kills in just four sets, 10 of those coming in game three alone. She hit .395 for the entire match, eventually getting into the match for six rotations as a reliable offensive threat. On the season, the Solana Beach, Calif. Native has 158 kills and is leading the way with 3.51 per set.
Friday night will offer the Hoosiers a chance to do something that's never happened in program history. IU has never won its Big Ten home opener in four-consecutive seasons. A win over the Spartans would push the streak to four after winning the league home opener in 2021 (Michigan State), 2022 (Iowa) and 2023 (Illinois).
IU's match against Michigan State (Friday) will be a "Red Out" with all fans asked to wear red. On Sunday (Ohio State), the Hoosiers will wear purple ribbons and collect donations for the Alzheimer's Association, a cause near and dear to the hearts of their coaching staff.
Gameday Info
vs. Michigan State (Friday, October 4th – 7:00 PM ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4evXqvW
Live Stats: bit.ly/4eCcLuq
vs. Ohio State (Sunday, October 6th – 1:00 PM ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/3zJEoTx
Live Stats: bit.ly/3ZOSn50
Stat Notes
• Junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum has the most kills per set (3.51) of any Big Ten player hitting .340+ this season. She's also the league's most prolific right-side attacker. She's the team leader in both categories for the Hoosiers on the campaign.
• IU is the only school in the league with a setter (Camryn Haworth) averaging more than 10.00 assists per set and a libero (Ramsey Gary) with over 4.00 digs per set. Haworth is also fifth in the conference in total service aces (25) while playing tough competition to start the year.
Notable
Home Conference Slate Begins
• After completing its west coast trip in conference play, IU returns home to the friendly confines of Wilkinson Hall to begin its 10-game home slate in league play. The Hoosiers were resilient in a tight defeat at No. 11 Oregon (L, 1-3) on Saturday night.
• IU meets long-standing Big Ten foes, Michigan State and Ohio State, this weekend in Bloomington. Two wins at home would go a long way to boost its resume's at-large chances. The Hoosiers were 7-3 at Wilkinson Hall in Big Ten play last year.
• In Big Ten home openers under head coach Steve Aird, the Hoosiers are 4-2. IU has beaten Iowa (2022, 3-0) and Illinois (2023, 3-1) in consecutive years. The Hoosiers had 18 team blocks in a dominant defensive performance against the Fighting Illini last year. In program history, IU has never won its Big Ten home opener in four-straight seasons.
Tatum Takes Over at Oregon
• Avry Tatum has been a revelation for IU this year, developing into one of the premier opposite hitters in the conference and the country. She's averaging 3.51 kills per set and leads the team with 158 kills. Against Oregon, she had 24 kills in four sets (.395 hitting percentage) including a resounding 10 kills in set three alone.
• According to Big Ten research, Tatum and Wisconsin's Sarah Franklin are the only two Big Ten players with 10-or-more kills in a single set this year. Before Tatum, the last IU player with 10+ kills in a set was Mady Saris (11) in the first set of a road contest at Iowa (Oct. 8, 2022).
Recent Success Against Sparty
• The Hoosiers have won four-straight matches against Michigan State, dating back to 2021. IU won a pair of five-set matches in 2022 before recording 14 aces and 11 blocks in a dominant victory in East Lansing last November.
Always Close with the Buckeyes
• IU has won two of the last three matches with Ohio State but each has been extremely tight. The Hoosiers won five-set contests in 2022 (A) and 2023 (H) but lost a four-set match last November (A). All four of those sets were decided by the minimum two points.
Best Stretch of Big Ten Play
• The Hoosiers are enjoying their best run of success in Big Ten play since the turn of the century. Over the past two years, IU has won 20 conference games - the most in a two-year span since 1999-2000.
• IU hasn't won nine-plus games in three-straight seasons since 1998-2000. In the 50 years of being a varsity sport, the Hoosiers have never won 10+ league games in consecutive seasons. Last year, the Hoosiers won 11 contests in Big Ten play.
Chasing Career Marks
• Senior setter Camryn Haworth passed the 3,000-assist threshold - the 8th in program history to do so - in the contest at No. 1 Texas this year. She is now chasing 4,000 assists and is closing to moving into the top five in IU's history books.
• Along the way, Haworth is hoping to pass the all-time aces mark of 197. She's got 189 for her career, needing just 9 in 18 remaining regular season matches. She sits fourth among all Big Ten players in aces since the beginning of the 25-point rally era (2008-Present).
• Fellow senior Mady Saris is looking to become the 20th member of the 1,000-kill club at Indiana. She has 973 for her career, just 27 away from reaching the threshold. Breana Edwards (2018-21) is the only other player under head coach Steve Aird to hit the mark.
Scouting the Opponent
Michigan State (7-6, 0-2 B1G)
• The Spartans are off to a 7-6 start under third year head coach Leah Johnson. Michigan State dropped road contests to Michigan and Penn State to begin conference play. The Hoosiers have won four-straight games against the Spartans, last losing in 2019.
• Julia Bishop and Rachel Muisenga run a 6-2 system, bringing a variety of attacking options into the fray. Akasha Anderson, a transfer from Auburn, has been the most consistent. She averages 3.21 kills per set and has 151 on the season. Taylor Preston is next best at 105 kills and 2.98 points per set.
• Nalani Iosia is one of the league's most experienced liberos. The fifth-year player has 200 digs on the season (4.26 per set) for Michigan State. Zuzanna Kulig is the best blocker on the roster with 1.40 blocks per set.
Ohio State (7-5, 0-2 B1G)
• A traditional Big Ten powerhouse, Ohio State is looking to get back into the NCAA Tournament after a year away. Jen Flynn Oldenburg, a former Buckeye setter and pin hitter, has done an exceptional job in five years in Columbus. Ohio State went to the Elite Eight in 2022 before falling to Texas.
• The show starts and stops with fifth-year opposite hitter Emily Londot. The National Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, Londot is closing in on 2,000 career kills. She averages 4.35 kills per set, nearly two more than the next best attacker for Ohio State. She's transitioned back to the right side this year and still plays the full six rotations.
• Mia Tuman, a sophomore setter, is in her second year running the offense. She averages 9.79 assists per set with outside hitters Grace Egan (2.54 k/s) and Londot (4.35 k/s) doing the heavy lifting offensively. Fifth-year senior Rylee Rader (1.96 k/s) is first choice out of the middle. Under Armour All-American Emmi Sellman played her first matches over the weekend.
Inside the Series
Michigan State
• The Spartans hold the all-time advantage (53-34) but IU has been trending upwards in recent memory, winning four-straight matches between the two programs. Head coach Steve Aird is 5-2 against Sparty with the Hoosiers. IU had 14 aces enroute to a commanding win in 2023. IU won two five-set contests against Michigan State in 2022.
Ohio State
• The Buckeyes have had IU's number in the history between the two schools but the last four contests have been extremely tight. IU beat then-No. 5 Ohio State on the road in 2022, its first top-five road win in program history. The Hoosiers won a close match in Bloomington in 2023 before Ohio State returned the favor, winning 3-1 in Columbus with all four sets decided by the minimum two points.
Players Mentioned
Libero
/ Women's Volleyball
Setter
/ Women's Volleyball
Outside Hitter
/ Women's Volleyball
Opposite/Middle Blocker
/ Women's VolleyballIUVB vs. Michigan State: Highlights
Sunday, October 12
IUVB vs. Michigan: Highlights
Friday, October 10
IUVB vs. UCLA: Highlights
Sunday, October 05
IUVB vs. USC: Highlights
Saturday, October 04