After suffering their first loss at home of the season this past Friday against Minnesota, Indiana volleyball bounced back for a second sweep against Northwestern on Sunday (25-17, 25-21, 26-24) but this time at Wilkinson Hall. Following the win, the Hoosiers have the best 10-game start in the Big Ten in program history and are now 16-4 overall.
Their 7-3 conference record at the halfway point is the best 10-game mark by any IU team since conference play began in 1981. It surpassed the 6-4 mark set by the 1985 and 2023 teams.
Offense was key to the clean sweep against the Wildcats. IU hit .361 and with only nine attacking errors in the entire game — the fewest in a Big Ten Match since Oct. 14, 2023 against Michigan.
Freshman setter Teodora Kričković earned her fourth double-double of her career at 37 assists and 11 digs. Senior opposite Avry Tatum had a .471 hitting percentage, landing at nine kills and only one error from a tipped ball in a tight set. To top things off, Tatum had a block, three digs and two aces.
The offense was spread all throughout Wilkinson as four hitters had six or more kills. IU had seven aces by five different players. However, Northwestern didn’t go down without a fight. Northwestern’s freshman outside hitter Isabella Bullington kept the young team in the game with 18 kills.
Senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles had 16 kills in the victory and 31 on the weekend. It’s the sixth time this year she’s had 10+ kills in a Big Ten match and the 43rd time in her career. She’s now just 57 kills away from moving into the top 10 in program history in kills.
Since the beginning of the 25-point rally-scoring era in 2008, it’s the fifth time the Hoosiers have hit above .360 in a Big Ten match.
This was IU’s third sweep in Big Ten play this season and the ninth overall. It’s the 27th in conference play since the beginning of 2008. IU’s season sweep of Northwestern was the first time it has won two games against the Wildcats in the same year in 17 years.
Following this win, the Hoosiers exceeded their win total from last season with 10 matches left to go in the regular season. They will travel this Friday (Oct. 31) to College Park to face Maryland. Next Sunday will wrap up the road trip as they look to play the defending national champions Penn State (Nov. 2).
