Indiana University Athletics
Friday, September 20
South Bend, Ind.
6:30 PM
Indiana University
at
Notre Dame
Volleyball Central: Notre Dame
9/19/2024 9:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – An important week awaits the Indiana Volleyball team (6-2, 0-0) as it prepares to embark on the final weekend of non-conference play. Big Ten action will open up next week but before that, IU will meet in-state foe Notre Dame for a home-and-home series on Friday (A) and Sunday (H).
IU head coach Steve Aird and Notre Dame head coach Salima Rockwell, friends from their days coaching together at Penn State, have restarted a series that has been dormant since 2003. Both programs have six wins in the early portion of the season and are looking to move up the standings in their respective conferences.
The Hoosiers moved to 6-2 on the season last week, beating Chicago State, Southern Indiana and Ball State along the way. IU struggled to close out the match with the Cardinals on Saturday (Sept. 14) afternoon but a career-high 25 kills from junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum helped seal the deal.
Senior outside hitter Mady Saris continues to play at a high rate for IU this season. She earned All-Tournament honors last weekend while racking up 32 total kills in three matches. She hit at a .377 clip on the weekend. Saris also provided four blocks in the win over Ball State.
A win over a team from a power four conference would go a long way in IU's tournament chances. If the Hoosiers could grab both games this weekend, they would be 8-2 for the first time since 2019. IU won seven-straight matches to close last year's non-conference slate and are looking to win five straight to end this year's.
Friday's game (6:30 PM ET) in South Bend will be broadcasted on ACCNX while Sunday's contest (1:00 PM ET) in Bloomington will be streamed on B1G+. These are the last two non-conference games this season before opening Big Ten play next Friday (Sept. 27) at Washington.
Gameday Info
at Notre Dame (Friday, September 20th – 6:30 PM ET)
Live Video: t.ly/-TGyF
Live Stats: t.ly/jdKWK
vs. Notre Dame (Sunday, September 22nd – 1:00 PM ET)
Live Video: t.ly/d4lOZ
Live Stats: t.ly/vTNR5
Stat Notes
• Avry Tatum has been the most efficient player in the league among non-middle blockers. She's seventh in total among qualified Big Ten hitters (.387) but is the top-right side attacker in the conference based on hitting percentage. She's sixth in total in overall kills (104).
• Ramsey Gary has moved back up to the top of the Big Ten rankings for liberos. She's fourth overall in digs (122) and fifth overall in digs per set (3.94).
Notable
Big Week Ahead
• Every team in the country is entering the final week of the non-conference slate before respective conference schedules get underway. IU will meet Notre Dame in a home-and-home series on Friday (A) and Sunday (H).
• Notre Dame is off to a 6-1 start with a pair of wins over Northwestern and a true road win at Mississippi State. The road to an at-large bid for the Hoosiers would look a lot clearer with one, if not, two wins over the Fighting Irish this week. The two teams are meeting for the first time since 2003.
Tatum's Career Day
• Junior opposite Avry Tatum had every answer on Saturday afternoon to end the Indiana Invitational. With IU struggling to put away upstart Ball State, Tatum took the match over in the final two sets. From game four on, she delivered 14 kills including nine in set four.
• She became the first IU player with 25 kills since 2021 and was the first Hoosier with 25+ kills and a hitting percentage of .430+ in one match since Ashley Benson in 2010. On the season, she leads all non-Big Ten middle blockers in hitting percentage (.387).
Learning While Winning
• The Hoosiers haven't been perfect this season but are still 6-2 with both losses to team in the top-20 of last week's AVCA poll. IU has had to grit out wins over very good teams in Wichita State, Ball State and UC-Davis.
• IU is learning to play with a new lineup that features a pair of new middles and a couple new back row faces. Freshman middle blocker Ella Boersema and graduate student defensive specialist Delaynie Maple have each improved. Expect to see an even more motivated team defensively heading forward.
Rockwell-Aird Connection
• Indiana head coach Steve Aird and Notre Dame head coach Salima Rockwell are tied together by a deep love for their alma mater, Penn State. Both coaches played at Penn State and went on to coach under legendary head coach Russ Rose.
• The two overlapped as part of the 2007 team at Penn State, helping to coach the team to the national title. It was the beginning of a four-year run of NCAA Championships for the illustrious program.
All-Time Countdown
• Senior setter Camryn Haworth and outside hitter Mady Saris are closing in on massive milestones. They've started a majority of the matches in their career, proving to be a reliable duo for IU.
• Haworth passed the 3,000-assist threshold - the 8th in program history to do so - and is now chasing 4,000 assists. Along the way, she is hoping to pass the all-time aces mark of 197. She's got 180 for her career, needing just 18 in 22 remaining regular season matches.
• Saris is looking to become the 20th member of the 1,000-kill club at Indiana. She has 947 for her career, just 53 away from reaching the threshold. Breana Edwards (2018-21) is the only other player under head coach Steve Aird to hit the mark.
True Road Games at ACC Foes
• Head coach Steve Aird has never been shy of finding quality opponents to play in the non-conference. IU's trip to Notre Dame will mark the fourth-straight season playing a true road game at an ACC foe. The Hoosiers lost to Georgia Tech (2021) and NC State (2022) but beat Miami (Fla.) (2023) last season.
• Already this season, IU has played Texas and Miami (Fla.). Over the past three seasons, the Hoosiers have played TCU, UCLA, Washington, Long Beach State and Western Kentucky in the preseason away from home.
Scouting the Opponent
Notre Dame (6-1, 0-0 ACC)
• The Fighting Irish are off to a fantastic start, picking up a pair of wins over Northwestern and true road wins at Mississippi State and Santa Clara. Their only loss of the season came in a neutral site contest with Michigan.
• Sydney Palazzolo (97 kills, 3.59 kps) leads the way offensively for Notre Dame. A hybrid offense, that allows star Phyona Schrader hit in three rotations and set the other three rotations as opened up a world of success for head coach Salima Rockwell. Schrader has three triple-doubles to her name this season.
• Notre Dame is in the middle of many of the ACC's team statistical categories. The Fighting Irish are hitting .260 on the season and allowing opponents to work at just a .185 clip. Notre Dame keeps a lot of balls off the ground (15.67 per set) but also allows the other team to dig 14.70 per set.
• IU freshman middle blocker Ella Boersema and Notre Dame freshman outside hitter Morgan Gaerte played club volleyball together at Team Pineapple. IU libero Ramsey Gary and Notre Dame outside hitter Avery Ross played together in high school at Pendleton Heights.
Inside the Series
Notre Dame
• The Fighting Irish hold a tight 7-5 advantage in the all-time series but the two schools haven't played since 2003. Notre Dame won the last matchup, 3-1, in South Bend in 2003. The programs met five times between 1993 and 1998 in the Big Four Classic. IU's last win in the series came in 1998 in Madison, Wis. The last contest between the two teams played in Bloomington was in 1995.
IU head coach Steve Aird and Notre Dame head coach Salima Rockwell, friends from their days coaching together at Penn State, have restarted a series that has been dormant since 2003. Both programs have six wins in the early portion of the season and are looking to move up the standings in their respective conferences.
The Hoosiers moved to 6-2 on the season last week, beating Chicago State, Southern Indiana and Ball State along the way. IU struggled to close out the match with the Cardinals on Saturday (Sept. 14) afternoon but a career-high 25 kills from junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum helped seal the deal.
Senior outside hitter Mady Saris continues to play at a high rate for IU this season. She earned All-Tournament honors last weekend while racking up 32 total kills in three matches. She hit at a .377 clip on the weekend. Saris also provided four blocks in the win over Ball State.
A win over a team from a power four conference would go a long way in IU's tournament chances. If the Hoosiers could grab both games this weekend, they would be 8-2 for the first time since 2019. IU won seven-straight matches to close last year's non-conference slate and are looking to win five straight to end this year's.
Friday's game (6:30 PM ET) in South Bend will be broadcasted on ACCNX while Sunday's contest (1:00 PM ET) in Bloomington will be streamed on B1G+. These are the last two non-conference games this season before opening Big Ten play next Friday (Sept. 27) at Washington.
Gameday Info
at Notre Dame (Friday, September 20th – 6:30 PM ET)
Live Video: t.ly/-TGyF
Live Stats: t.ly/jdKWK
vs. Notre Dame (Sunday, September 22nd – 1:00 PM ET)
Live Video: t.ly/d4lOZ
Live Stats: t.ly/vTNR5
Stat Notes
• Avry Tatum has been the most efficient player in the league among non-middle blockers. She's seventh in total among qualified Big Ten hitters (.387) but is the top-right side attacker in the conference based on hitting percentage. She's sixth in total in overall kills (104).
• Ramsey Gary has moved back up to the top of the Big Ten rankings for liberos. She's fourth overall in digs (122) and fifth overall in digs per set (3.94).
Notable
Big Week Ahead
• Every team in the country is entering the final week of the non-conference slate before respective conference schedules get underway. IU will meet Notre Dame in a home-and-home series on Friday (A) and Sunday (H).
• Notre Dame is off to a 6-1 start with a pair of wins over Northwestern and a true road win at Mississippi State. The road to an at-large bid for the Hoosiers would look a lot clearer with one, if not, two wins over the Fighting Irish this week. The two teams are meeting for the first time since 2003.
Tatum's Career Day
• Junior opposite Avry Tatum had every answer on Saturday afternoon to end the Indiana Invitational. With IU struggling to put away upstart Ball State, Tatum took the match over in the final two sets. From game four on, she delivered 14 kills including nine in set four.
• She became the first IU player with 25 kills since 2021 and was the first Hoosier with 25+ kills and a hitting percentage of .430+ in one match since Ashley Benson in 2010. On the season, she leads all non-Big Ten middle blockers in hitting percentage (.387).
Learning While Winning
• The Hoosiers haven't been perfect this season but are still 6-2 with both losses to team in the top-20 of last week's AVCA poll. IU has had to grit out wins over very good teams in Wichita State, Ball State and UC-Davis.
• IU is learning to play with a new lineup that features a pair of new middles and a couple new back row faces. Freshman middle blocker Ella Boersema and graduate student defensive specialist Delaynie Maple have each improved. Expect to see an even more motivated team defensively heading forward.
Rockwell-Aird Connection
• Indiana head coach Steve Aird and Notre Dame head coach Salima Rockwell are tied together by a deep love for their alma mater, Penn State. Both coaches played at Penn State and went on to coach under legendary head coach Russ Rose.
• The two overlapped as part of the 2007 team at Penn State, helping to coach the team to the national title. It was the beginning of a four-year run of NCAA Championships for the illustrious program.
All-Time Countdown
• Senior setter Camryn Haworth and outside hitter Mady Saris are closing in on massive milestones. They've started a majority of the matches in their career, proving to be a reliable duo for IU.
• Haworth passed the 3,000-assist threshold - the 8th in program history to do so - and is now chasing 4,000 assists. Along the way, she is hoping to pass the all-time aces mark of 197. She's got 180 for her career, needing just 18 in 22 remaining regular season matches.
• Saris is looking to become the 20th member of the 1,000-kill club at Indiana. She has 947 for her career, just 53 away from reaching the threshold. Breana Edwards (2018-21) is the only other player under head coach Steve Aird to hit the mark.
True Road Games at ACC Foes
• Head coach Steve Aird has never been shy of finding quality opponents to play in the non-conference. IU's trip to Notre Dame will mark the fourth-straight season playing a true road game at an ACC foe. The Hoosiers lost to Georgia Tech (2021) and NC State (2022) but beat Miami (Fla.) (2023) last season.
• Already this season, IU has played Texas and Miami (Fla.). Over the past three seasons, the Hoosiers have played TCU, UCLA, Washington, Long Beach State and Western Kentucky in the preseason away from home.
Scouting the Opponent
Notre Dame (6-1, 0-0 ACC)
• The Fighting Irish are off to a fantastic start, picking up a pair of wins over Northwestern and true road wins at Mississippi State and Santa Clara. Their only loss of the season came in a neutral site contest with Michigan.
• Sydney Palazzolo (97 kills, 3.59 kps) leads the way offensively for Notre Dame. A hybrid offense, that allows star Phyona Schrader hit in three rotations and set the other three rotations as opened up a world of success for head coach Salima Rockwell. Schrader has three triple-doubles to her name this season.
• Notre Dame is in the middle of many of the ACC's team statistical categories. The Fighting Irish are hitting .260 on the season and allowing opponents to work at just a .185 clip. Notre Dame keeps a lot of balls off the ground (15.67 per set) but also allows the other team to dig 14.70 per set.
• IU freshman middle blocker Ella Boersema and Notre Dame freshman outside hitter Morgan Gaerte played club volleyball together at Team Pineapple. IU libero Ramsey Gary and Notre Dame outside hitter Avery Ross played together in high school at Pendleton Heights.
Inside the Series
Notre Dame
• The Fighting Irish hold a tight 7-5 advantage in the all-time series but the two schools haven't played since 2003. Notre Dame won the last matchup, 3-1, in South Bend in 2003. The programs met five times between 1993 and 1998 in the Big Four Classic. IU's last win in the series came in 1998 in Madison, Wis. The last contest between the two teams played in Bloomington was in 1995.
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
Libero
/ Women's Volleyball
Setter
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
Outside Hitter
/ Women's Volleyball
Opposite/Middle Blocker
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