What’s the best present you could receive on your birthday when you play a sport? A game-winning play to cap off a fantastic performance, of course.
Avry Tatum did just that on Monday night as she helped the Hoosiers earn a 3-1 victory over UC Davis. Indiana hosted the Aggies of UC Davis in their home opener in front of over 1,500 Hoosier fans. Coming off of a 2-0 weekend at the Kennesaw Invitational, Indiana was ready to come out firing.
The Hoosiers cruised to a 25-16 win in the first set, with great effort in the trenches. Candela Alonso-Corcelles led the way with five kills and two blocks in the first from Indiana. Camryn Haworth, who earned an ace in the second serve of the match, contributed in just about every way she could early on. Haworth finished with nine assists, three digs, and two kills in the first set alone.
Indiana had some trouble finding lanes to hit through early on in the match, which ultimately carried into the second set. They finished with a .179 hitting percentage in set one and regressed to a .163 in the second set. On what was a down night offensively, head coach Steve Aird gave credit where it was due.
“They just showed so much fight and so much grit to hang in there,” Aird said. “Our best players have to play well because every team on our schedule is really good.”
UC Davis did not let Indiana go away easy, however, as they took the second set over the Hoosiers 33-31. Indiana trailed UC Davis in the middle of the second set, falling behind by as many as five points. A Haworth serving run cut the deficit and got the Hoosiers within one. Indiana went back and forth late into extras, but a service ace from UC Davis would end the set in favor of the Aggies.
All the trouble the Aggies gave Indiana in the second set seemed to disappear as Indiana handled UC Davis in set three with a 25-16 win. The fourth was a different story again, with UC Davis leading late into the set, and it seemed they had all the momentum to send the game to a fifth.
That’s when Wilkinson Hall came alive. When it seemed that the Aggies were dominating, Indiana’s faithful only got louder.
“I think they definitely helped us,” said Haworth after the match. “The atmosphere has been great in here. I think it’s going to be a real advantage going into the Big Ten season.”
With some help from the Indiana student section, Indiana began to chip away at the Aggie lead.
Once again, Haworth led a 10-2 scoring run to help lead Indiana to a comeback, totaling two kills, five assists, and a block in that span. And perfectly, Tatum ended the game with an emphatic kill to seal a win on her 21st birthday.
“We didn’t come back to be tied and then one point ahead for nothing,” Tatum said. “This was literally just for the team, that was my thought process in that moment and I went to Cam and I said, ‘Set me the ball.’”
Tatum finished her night with 12 kills on an efficient .414 kill percentage, along with adding three digs and three total blocks throughout the match.
Indiana got some steady production from the rest of their returning pieces as well. Alonso-Corcelles led the way with 16 kills and contributed nine digs on the night. Ramsey Gary had a team-best 24 digs, and Haworth was atop of the assist category with 41 on the night.
Indiana has a tough slate due up as they travel to take on No. 1-ranked Texas in Austin on Thursday and round out their trip with a rematch from last year’s five-set thriller against Miami (Florida).
