Tatum Delivers Career Day, Victory over Ball State

Saturday, September 14

Bloomington, Ind.

4:00 PM

Indiana University

6-2,0-0Big Ten

Ball State

5-4,0-0MAC

Ball St.

Indiana

Tatum Delivers Career Day, Victory over Ball State

9/14/2024 6:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum had a match for the ages on Saturday (Sept. 14) at Wilkinson Hall, taking over in the final two sets to help the Indiana Volleyball team (6-2, 0-0) to a five-set win over Ball State (25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 25-27, 15-13). The Hoosiers capped off a perfect 3-0 weekend in their home invitational.

Tatum, a native of Solana Beach, Calif., produced a career-high 25 kills. She was efficient in her endeavors, hitting at a .436 clip across the five sets. Her previous career best came while she was at Cincinnati in 2022, terminating 22 kills in a match at Temple. Tatum was the only IU player with double-digit kills.

While the offense struggled at points in the match, Tatum picked up the slack. She delivered 14 of her 25 kills in the final two games including nine in set four. She had five kills in set five as senior setter Camryn Haworth continued to find her in transition. Tatum's 25 kills are the most by an IU player since Breana Edwards totaled 27 in a win over Rutgers in 2021.

The Hoosiers had 11 blocks as a team with junior middle blocker Madi Sell and senior outside hitter Mady Saris each playing a part in four. Sophomore libero Ramsey Gary led the way defensively with 21 digs. IU was aced just once in the match while tacking up nine aces from the end line.

For her performance, Tatum was named the Indiana Invitational Tournament MVP. Saris was also selected to the All-Tournament team with 32 kills across three matches. The Hoosiers improve to 6-2 for the first time since the 2019 season. A week off will help IU before returning to action next Friday at Notre Dame.

Set Breakdown
Set 1: Indiana 25, Ball State 18
IU jumped on visiting Ball State from the opening jump, using service pressure to keep the Cardinals out of system. Kenzie Daffinee had two of IU's three service aces in the first set. The Hoosiers racked up four blocks in the opening game while the visitors committed eight attacking errors. Mady Saris produced three kills and a block to get her match started.

• A strong run of serve from Kenzie Daffinee, including back-to-back service aces, helped the Hoosiers out to an 8-4 lead. After being tied as late as 4-all, IU would lead the rest of the way in the set with the leading getting as big as four points on multiple occasions.

• Avry Tatum served the final four points of the set. She aced the Cardinals to force a timeout. Out of the break, the Hoosiers tallied consecutive blocks before Aniya Kennedy attacked long to end the set in favor of the hosts.

Set 2: Indiana 25, Ball State 22
The Hoosiers turned up the offensive efficiency after switching sides, converting on 14 kills. Tatum led the way with four kills while Ella Boersema, Camryn Haworth and Candela Alonso-Corcelles each had three. Ramsey Gary recorded five digs in the frame to lead the way defensively.

• For the second-straight set, Daffinee opened up the advantage with pressure from the end line. She opened up easy kills for Boersema and Haworth to take the lead out to 11-7. Ball State called its first timeout and came out of the huddle with another attacking error.

• Ball State made a run of its own to close the gap and bring the set level at 17-all. Facing its first tie since 7-7, Alonso-Corcelles and Haworth helped IU take the lead for good with a pair of kills. Tatum closed out the 25-22 set victory with a kill.

Set 3: Ball State 25, Indiana 20
Just when it looked like IU would sweep the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, Ball State staged a dominant third set to take the match to a fourth set. The visitors hit .423 in game three, led by five kills from Kendall Barnes. Morgan Geddes came off the bench for IU to the tune of four kills but IU couldn't keep the ball off the floor defensively. Haworth dished out 14 assists in the game. The Hoosiers never led in the third frame.

• Middle blocker Aayinde Smith took over offensively with a pair of early kills. Saris sailed a ball out of bounds for IU to give the Cardinals an 8-4 lead. The Hoosiers couldn't find a rhythm offensively with some struggles in serve receive. Ball State settled in defensively, going up 12-5 on an attacking error from Tatum

• Haworth helped close the gap for IU. She drilled a service ace to open her run from the end line before Ball State called timeout. Tatum terminated on a kill out of the break but a bad connection between the pair offensively helped side out for the Cardinals at 20-16.

• After the early exchange of points, IU couldn't get the lead down to less than three. Saris terminated to make it 17-20 but Ball State scored five of the final eight points. Barnes, Ball State's right side, scored on the final swing of the set to force a fourth game.

Set 4: Ball State 27, Indiana 25
With a chance to close out the match, IU crumbled down the stretch and allowed Ball State into a deciding fifth game. Ball State continued its offensive dominance, hitting .389 with 19 kills in the set. Despite the efforts of Tatum, who helped herself to nine kills on a .727 clip in the set, Ball State closed out a deuce set victory. IU committed four service errors in the set as familiar struggles came back to haunt the hosts..

• Tatum became the go-to option for the Hoosiers. Haworth found her on back-to-back kills to give IU the lead. Ball State committed an attacking error and took a timeout while trailing by two. Fresh out of the break, Tatum terminated on a pair of kills to take a 14-11 lead.

• The Hoosiers maintained the lead all the way to 23-all. A service error and a kill from Ball State's leading attacker, Tyler, leveled the set. IU took a pair of late timeouts but the Cardinals forced their first of three set points. IU fended off the first two with kills from Haworth and Ava Vickers but Ball State got the last look to take the match to the full five sets.

Set 5: Indiana 15, Ball State 13
The Cardinals slowed down Tatum a little in the final set but she managed five important kills to lead IU to victory. Candela Alonso-Corcelles struggled all night but found the match-winning kill in a big moment for the Hoosiers. Gary had four digs and was perfect in serve receive down the stretch. IU moves to 2-0 in five-set matches this year.

• IU's lead ballooned to 8-3 at the switch following a pair of attacking errors from Ball State. Haworth had an early ace before distributing kills to Alonso-Corcelles and Tatum.

• Ball State made life uncomfortable but never got the set to equal terms. IU led the entire way. Tatum was called in the net on the first match point but Alonso-Corcelles redeemed her with a second chance to secure the match for the home team.

Top Hoosier Performers
#13 Tatum, Avry
25 kills, 3 aces, 2 blocks

#10 Haworth, Camryn
51 assists, 5 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks, 3 aces

#32 Gary, Ramsey
21 digs

Notes to Know
• The Hoosiers move to 6-2 for the first time since the 2019 season. Head coach Steve Aird led the program to an 11-2 finish in the non-conference schedule that campaign. IU will play a home-and-home with Notre Dame to finish out the preseason slate next week.

• Avry Tatum had a day for the ages, terminating on a career-best 25 kills. She had 14 kills over the final two sets to lead IU to the five-set win. Her 25 kills were the most by an IU player since Breana Edwards' 27 kills against Rutgers in 2021. She's the third player in the Aird era to record 25+ kills.

• Tatum is the first IU player to deliver 25-or-more kills and hit at least .430 in a single match since All-American middle blocker Ashley Benson (.564, 25-3-39) against Miami (Fla.) in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

• Camryn Haworth recorded the ninth 50-assist match of her career. It was the second this season. She's got 3,176 assists for her illustrious career, moving her into sixth on the all-time program list. Haworth tacked on a pair of service aces to move to 180 for her career. The Fishers, Ind. native needs jut 18 aces for the all-time school record.