After a win against Iowa on Friday night, the Indiana volleyball team lost to No. 2 Nebraska 3-1 on Saturday night.
“It was a battle,” Indiana volleyball head coach Steve Aird said. “That’s a team that has a real chance to win the national championship.”
For the first time in Wilkinson Hall history, the arena was sold out for an Indiana volleyball match: 2,632 fans were in attendance for the match per release, breaking the prior record of 2,512 fans at the Purdue match last season.
No. 2 Nebraska was also the highest-ranked opponent to visit Wilkinson Hall with fans in attendance.
“This was one of the best crowds we’ve ever had here,” Aird said. “We’re really appreciative of the support.”
Another notable achievement from the match is that Indiana junior setter Camryn Haworth broke the program's rally-era ace record. The rally-era has been the NCAA’s method of scoring since 2001. She tallied the 130th and 131st service aces of her career and is now top-five all-time in aces in program history. She will push for the program record of 197.
The Hoosiers started off strong against the Cornhuskers early and hit .351 in the match’s opening frame of the match, holding off a late Husker push to take the first set 25-23. Indiana senior outside hitter Morgan Geddes had four kills in that first set to get Wilkinson Hall rocking.
Throughout the second match, Indiana had three blocks, but Nebraska's offense came to life down the stretch to win the second set 25-23 and tie the match 1-1. Nebraska volleyball head coach John Cook went a perfect 4-4 in challenges throughout the second set, which included taking a set point away to make it 24-23 Indiana.
Throughout the third set, Nebraska found its rhythm and thumped the Hoosiers 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead. The Hoosiers struggled to stop the Cornhuskers in the final frame they hit .519 to close out the match in four sets.
Despite the 3-1 loss, Indiana dominated the blocking category 11.0-2.0 and were able to capitalize on certain Nebraska mistakes, such as 16 service errors on the night from the visitors. On the flip side, the Hoosiers were outhit .138 to .338 as the Cornhuskers figured out their offensive rhythm.
“I think we can play with anybody in the country,” Aird said. “It’s not miles from us to the good teams, it’s feet.”
The Hoosiers are now 12-5 on the season with a 2-2 Big Ten record. They head to the road for a match against No. 15 Penn State at 7 p.m. this Friday.
