Volleyball Central: Rutgers and Maryland

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As November begins, so does the second half of the Big Ten volleyball season. Indiana (10-10, 3-7 B1G) worked through injuries and a brutal schedule in the opening 10 contests, getting through that slate with only three wins. Now healthy and facing a lighter back end to league play, the Hoosiers are hoping to make a run and secure back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1999-2000.

IU makes the road trip out to the east coast with contests against Rutgers (Friday) and Maryland (Saturday) on the docket. Pending a decision on the start time for its USC match, it could be the last time in the regular season that the Hoosiers play matches on back-to-back days. IU is a combined 6-1 against Maryland and Rutgers over the past two years, dropping only a five-set senior day decision in 2022.

The Hoosiers were boosted by the return of senior setter Camryn Haworth and junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum in a commanding sweep of Northwestern last Sunday. Its .358 hitting percentage against the Wildcats was the highest in a conference match in nearly five seasons. Tatum and junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles combined on 29 kills in the victory.

Haworth moved herself one closer to the all-time aces record on Sunday. She will officially be on record watch out east this weekend. She needs one to tie Jen Magelssen (197) with the program's all-time service aces record. Two more will put her alone at the top of the list. The Fishers, Ind. native is also on track to reach the 200-ace threshold. She would become the fourth player, to play all four years at a Big Ten in school, in the rally era to hit the milestone.

Sophomore libero Ramsey Gary is quietly making her case to be an All-Big Ten and All-American selection at her position this season. She leads the league with 4.35 digs per set and has a commanding advantage in the category during conference play (4.31). Her and graduate student defensive specialist Delaynie Maple have been outstanding in serve receive. It's Maple that leads the way, passing a 2.30 in conference play on a 3.00 scale.

Both of this weekend's contests will be broadcasted on B1G+ at 7:00 PM on Friday (Rutgers) and Saturday (Maryland) respectively. IU's next home match, against Purdue, is officially sold out to the general public on November 8th.

Gameday Info
at Rutgers (Friday, November 1st – 7:00 PM)
Live Video: t.ly/oOOjz
Live Stats: t.ly/5fJPO

at Maryland (Saturday, November 2nd – 7:00 PM)
Live Video: t.ly/vLiyr
Live Stats: t.ly/Bt9b3

Stat Notes
• Senior setter Camryn Haworth recorded 39 assists in just three sets (13.00 per set) in the win over Northwestern (Oct. 27). It's the second match this year (Kennesaw State) she's hit that mark. During her career, her 39 assists are the most she's had in a three-set Big Ten match. For an IU setter, it was the most assists in a three-set conference match since Whitney Granado had 41 in a win over Iowa (Nov. 10, 2012).

• The Hoosiers hit .358 collectively (47-13-95) in the win over Northwestern. It's the highest attacking clip for an IU team in conference play since 2019 when it hit .359 in victory over Rutgers (Nov. 9). Outside of matches against Rutgers, it's the most efficient IU has been in Big Ten play since 2010 (Oct. 22 vs. Michigan, .383).

• Junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum has the highest attacking percentage (.301) of any player averaging at least 3.30 kills per set. She has seven matches with at least 14 kills while hitting .333 this season. She recorded 14 kills in the win over Northwestern, the first double-digit output since October 4th.

Notable
Time to Make a Run in November
• A win over Northwestern on Sunday ended a five-game losing streak and provided IU some much needed momentum heading into the stretch run. The Hoosiers have just two matches remaining against the top-seven teams. IU will look to rack up some wins in November and make a push for a winning season and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Gary Gets Going
• Sophomore libero Ramsey Gary has been quietly as good as anyone in the Big Ten. She's leading the league with 4.35 digs per set. In conference games only, she leads the league by a wide margin with 4.76 digs per set. As of now, she'll have a case to be an All-Big Ten libero.

• She recorded her 13th career 20-dig match against Purdue (Oct. 19). It was the second time in her young career with 20+ digs in a three-set contest. She's surpassed 840 digs for her career and is well on her way to becoming the fastest in IU history to 1,000.

Tatum and Haworth Return
• After sitting out the Wisconsin match through injury, senior setter Camryn Haworth and junior opposite Avry Tatum returned in fine form for the sweep of Northwestern. The duo was outstanding as IU hit .358 as a team in the win.

• Haworth dished out 39 assists, the most by an IU player in a three-set Big Ten match since 2012. Tatum hit .545 with 14 kills and just two attacking errors. She's hitting above .300 on the season and averaging over 3.3 kills per set.

Maryland-Indiana Connections
• Indiana head coach Steve Aird has long-standing ties to Maryland. He was the head coach there from 2014-17 and helped the program transition into the Big Ten. Current Maryland head coach Adam Hughes was an assistant for Aird and took over in 2018 when Aird accepted the job in Bloomington.

• Hughes and Aird are fantastic friends, dating back to their days working at Penn State together. Aird has been part of all 15 matches between Indiana and Maryland since the Terrapins joined the conference in 2014.

Candela Shines Against Terps
• In four career matches against Maryland, junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles has reached 10+ kills each time. She averages 3.59 kills per set against Maryland with a 3-1 record. Last season, she had 22 kills in a four-set win in Bloomington. She hit .323 (11-1-31) in the victory in College Park last October.

Haworth Chases 200
• Indiana setter Camryn Haworth has been of the most prolific servers in Big Ten rally-era history over the past four seasons. Haworth (196) will become the third or fourth Big Ten player, to play all four years in the league, in rally-era history (since 2001) to record 200 career aces. She will join Micha Hancock (339, Penn State) and Emily Danks (230, Ohio State) and Raina Terry (201, Illinois) in the club.

1,000 Kills for Saris
• Mady Saris tallied five kills at No. 14 Minnesota on Friday (Oct. 11) night to reach 1,000 kills for her fantastic college career. She became the 20th player in IU history to hit the threshold and is the first since Breana Edwards (2021) to do so.

Scouting the Opponent
Rutgers (5-16, 0-10 B1G)
• Despite the record, Rutgers has been extremely competitive in league play. The Scarlet Knights took a set off Washington last week and were close to taking a set at Oregon. They finished 5-6 in non-conference play but are still looking for their first win in Big Ten action.

• Alissa Kinkela has been fantastic for Rutgers this season. She averages 3.39 kills per set and 4.03 points per set. Overall, she has 241 kills, 124 digs and 54 blocks. She's third on the team in hitting percentage at .229.

• Natalie Robinson has turned into a prolific blocking talent. She has 89 total blocks on the season and has had 10 blocks on multiple occasions (vs. Iowa, at Washington). She nearly had a double-double in that match against Iowa with 10 blocks and eight kills.

Maryland (10-11, 1-9 B1G)
• Maryland is starting to get healthy and play at a high level down the stretch. Samantha Schnitta has 251 kills (3.30 p/s) and leads the Big Ten with 58 service aces (0.76 p/s). She's tallied 331.5 total points (4.36 p/s) and affects the game in a number of ways.

• The Terrapins have split the setting duties in recent weeks. Sydney Dowler, a five-year setter, has 433 assists while Zoe Huang is right behind her with 260. Maryland is searching to limit attacking errors offensively but has the ability to work a number of options into the fold.

• Libero Lilly Gunter, another fifth-year player, has 259 digs on the season. Defensively, Maryland has four players with at least 44 blocks. Middle blocker Eva Rohrbach has 69 total stuffs while fellow middle blocker Anastasia Russ is second with 62.

Inside the Series
Rutgers
• The Hoosiers have dominated the all-time series since Rutgers entered the league. IU holds an 18-1 advantage with the only defeat coming during the 2021 COVID spring season. Head coach Steve Aird has won seven-straight games in the series.

Maryland
• Maryland has a slight 11-7 advantage in a series that dates back to 2001. Since Maryland joined the Big Ten, it leads the series 9-6. Head coach Steve Aird has been a part of all 15 of the matches played since 2014. IU has won three of the last four contests.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Candela Alonso-Corcelles

Ramsey Gary

Camryn Haworth

Delaynie Maple

Mady Saris

Avry Tatum