WILKINSON HALL — Following the victory over Michigan State on Friday, Indiana Head Coach Steve Aird wanted to see more consistency out of his group. In the four set win over Ohio State on Sunday, he got consistency, but not in the way he intended.
It felt like a carbon copy of Friday’s match in Wilkinson Hall, just with a different opponent. Dominance in set one. Massive late comeback in set two. Lackluster set three. Gritty set four. One set, Indiana looks unstoppable, the next, they are down five points. Despite the fluctuating levels of play, the Hoosiers were able to squeak out another win and move to 2-2 in conference play.
“We were fortunate to win,” Aird said. “Fortunate might be the word of the day.”
Set one was a clinic from Indiana. The Hoosiers were flying all over the court defensively and commanding the net up front. Ohio State’s perennial All Big Ten outside hitter Emily Londot was held to one kill and hit for a negative percentage. With the help of six attacking errors and five service errors from the Buckeyes, Indiana won the set 25-15.
Emily Londot came alive in set two and turned Ohio State into a completely different team on the attack. Indiana called a timeout with the Buckeyes leading 19-15 in the set. Ohio State was hitting a ridiculous .478 with three blocks and had all the momentum in their favor. Following the timeout, the Hoosiers went on a 10-4 run to steal the set and go up 2-0.
On Friday, Hoosiers lost set three after coming back from an 18-13 set two deficit. The case was the same on Sunday. While it was a back and forth affair in the set, Londot and the Buckeye front line continued to roll and pulled off a 25-23 victory.
After falling behind in at the beginning of set four 6-2 a sense of urgency hit once more from the Hoosiers. They reverted back to their set one ways and clawed back to win the set and take the match.
On the attack, Candela Alonso-Corcelles and Mady Saris led the way for Indiana with 18 and 16 kills respectively. For the Buckeyes, it was all about Emily Londot who finished with 23 kills on high efficiency. The difference in the match was unforced errors at the service line. Ohio State finished with 17 service errors and one ace compared to Indiana’s seven service errors and seven aces. Free points allowed Indiana to escape victorious.
While Aird considers the victory great for the program, he does note the concerns of inconsistency throughout the weekend.
“I just thought each game we kind of got a little bit worse than a little bit worse, and that it's obviously not a trend you want,” Aird said. “The flip side is it's the Big Ten, and teams are good.”
Aird isn’t worried about where his team stands early in the Big Ten slate. As he looks at the bigger picture, he only sees opportunities to learn and grow and believes his group can do just that.
You're never as good as you are when you win. You're never as bad as you think when you lose,” Aird said. “We've got some really talented kids, and if we can get them all firing at the same time, I think we'll be a pretty good team.”
Indiana moves to 9-5 on the year, 2-2 in conference play, and 7-0 at home. The Hoosiers will play three of their next four matches on the road, starting with a trip to Minnesota on October 11th.
