EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The No. 21 Indiana Hoosiers took down the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles on Monday afternoon in four sets, winning 25-15, 22-25, 25-15 and 25-14.
In the first set, the Hoosiers took the lead early thanks to multiple kills from Ella Boersema. Southern Indiana was able to crawl back right after thanks to a number of service errors from the Hoosiers, making the score 11-9 favoring the Hoosiers heading into the first break.
After the timeout, the Hoosiers were able to regain their momentum. Jaidyn Jager had a crucial block at the net to make the score 14-12, and an Avery Daum kill right after forced the Screaming Eagles to take a timeout. The Hoosiers really turned on the momentum after the timeout. Teodora Kričković added an ace to extend the lead to 18-12, and after Boersema added more strong play at the net, the Hoosiers held a lead of 23-13. The set was punctuated by a Victoria Gray kill at the net, giving the Hoosiers a 25-15 win in set one.
In the second set, the Hoosiers started with the momentum advantage thanks to a Jager kill and crucial rally win early on, jumping out to a 3-1 lead. An ace from Sara Snowbarger coupled with service errors by Southern Indiana kept the Hoosiers in front, giving them a 12-11 lead heading into the first break of the second set.
A kill from Gray right out of the timeout gave the Hoosiers a 14-12 lead, but Southern Indiana would not go away. Ashby Willis added two kills for the Eagles right after, giving USI a 15-14 lead going into the second break of the second set. After the timeout, Southern Indiana continued to dominate, building the lead to 20-16. After Willis added a kill and an ace, the Screaming Eagles held a 24-22 lead, and a Jager service error right after gave USI a 25-22 win in set two.
In the third set, the Hoosiers jumped out to an early 8-4 lead thanks to kills by Daum, Jager and Gray. Boersema added three kills right after, extending the lead to 15-10 heading into the first break of the third set. Indiana did not let up after that, and after Jager, Gray, Snowbarger, and Daum added kills to the scoresheet, the Hoosiers were able to take the set 25-15.
In the fourth set, the Hoosiers and Screaming Eagles went back and forth, trading kills early. A kill by Jager broke the 7-7 tie and solid serving from Hannah Leftridge gave the Hoosiers a 10-7 lead. From that point on, it was all Indiana. Daum and Boersema added more kills and Indiana pushed their lead to 19-12. Leftridge punctuated a dominating fourth set with an ace, giving the Hoosiers a 25-14 win in set four.
A win is a win, and Indiana should be happy about bouncing back after getting swept Sunday by the No. 17 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, but overall a game like this should be extremely worrisome. The Hoosiers have a serious service error problem right now, and while I’m sure it will be corrected, there is no way they can consistently win games right now against good competition with this issue. Cal Poly is an extremely good team this year, and if Indiana can’t figure out how to correct their errors before Thursday, it wouldn’t shock me one bit if the Hoosiers got upset. This Southern Indiana team is not very good, and even dropping a single set is disappointing.
The Hoosiers have a lot of talent on this year’s team, and head coach Steve Aird is one of the best coaches in the country. Regardless, if Indiana can’t correct simple mistakes like service errors and they continue to give up 5-6 free points in each set, there is no way this team can be successful against Big Ten play, which starts at the end of the month.
The Hoosiers return home to play hosts to Cal Poly on Thursday in the Indiana Invitational. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be featured on Big Ten Network Plus.
