Photo credit: IU Athletics
WILKINSON HALL (IUSTV Sports) – After a winless weekend on the West Coast, dropping two matches to new conference foes Oregon and Washington, Indiana volleyball rebounded with a win over Michigan State in their home conference opener at Wilkinson Hall on Friday.
Game one began in unsurprising fashion, with a Camryn Haworth service ace. From then on, Indiana focused their offense on the pins, mainly working through Avry Tatum and Candela Alonso-Corcelles. The Hoosiers finished out game one with 16 kills, and a 25-21 win.
The story of game two, and the rest of the match, became the performances of their middle blockers: junior Madi Sell and sophomore Ava Vickers. Finding themselves down 18-13 in game two, the Hoosiers mounted a 9-0 run that involved two blocks from Sell, who tied her career high in single match blocks with seven. Vickers had a hand in six blocks, one shy of her own personal best.
But Vickers' demeanor off the court is what impresses head coach Steve Aird the most.
“She might be the best teammate I’ve ever coached...whether she plays or not, she gives the same intensity… I have all the respect in the world for her," Aird said.
While the final score ended as 3-1 in games in favor of Indiana, who moved to 8-5 on the year, Aird thought the match was far from a smooth ride.
“At times I just think we were uneven. I thought we played really well for [game one]. I thought we played great at the end of game two… I didn’t like anything about game three and then game four, I thought we were good for the last half and then fortunate to find a killer to finish it,” said Aird.
That “killer” was Alonso-Corcelles’ 17th kill, which finished just behind Tatum’s team-best 19.
Next up for Indiana is a Sunday matinee matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes, in which a win would give them their first 7-0 home start in program history.
