After sweeping Maryland and No. 19 Penn State on the road, Indiana volleyball found itself in a back-and-forth affair at home against Iowa on Friday night. The Hoosiers took down the Hawkeyes (25-18, 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) to earn their tenth conference win of the season and improve to 19-4 overall.
Friday’s win marks the seventh time in program history and the second in the last three seasons that Indiana has won double-digit Big Ten games. With its fourth straight win over Iowa, Indiana improved to 28-8 at Wilkinson Hall since the start of 2023.
Friday also marked the Hoosiers’ 19th straight win over an unranked opponent in Bloomington and their fourth consecutive home victory over Iowa. With a 10-3 conference record, the Hoosiers now sit tied for third in the Big Ten standings heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
Senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles powered Indiana with one of her strongest performances of the season. The Spaniard finished just shy of her career-high with 24 kills, hitting at a .288 clip while adding 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the year.
Alonso-Corcelles took over in the clutch fifth set, landing six kills to close out the Hawkeyes. The performance marked her eighth career 20-kill outing — seven of which have come in the month of November — and tied her atop the program’s all-time list for Big Ten victories by a single player with 38.
Freshman setter Teodora Kričković continued her stellar debut season, setting a new career high with 53 assists and recording her fifth double-double of the year with 11 digs. Her 53 assists were the most by a Hoosier since Camryn Haworth’s identical total against Maryland in November 2023. Indiana finished the night with 64 kills, its most in a match since defeating Ball State on Sept. 14, 2024.
On the defensive side, Indiana matched Iowa’s intensity throughout the two-hour battle. Four Hoosiers earned double-digit digs — the most in a match this season — led by graduate student Jessica Smith (13) and freshman Avery Freeman (12), both of whom set new career highs. At the net, senior middle blocker Madi Sell locked down the defense with seven blocks, tying her career best, as IU recorded 13 total blocks to secure its eighth double-digit blocking match of the season.
Freshman outside hitter Jaidyn Jager provided a balanced, all-around effort with 14 kills, seven digs, five blocks, three aces, and two assists, tying her career high in blocks and contributing 20 points alongside Alonso-Corcelles. Freshman middle blocker Victoria Gray added a key kill out of a late timeout to secure match point in the fifth set.
As a team, Indiana hit .231 but saved its best for last, producing a .400 hitting percentage in the fifth set. The Hoosiers are now 4-1 in five-set matches this season and have won 21 such matches during the Steve Aird era.
Indiana now looks ahead to a key road test, traveling north to face No. 11 Wisconsin at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Badgers are tied with Indiana for third place in the Big Ten standings with seven matches remaining.
