Indiana Volleyball Looks to Carry Momentum to Iowa

Coming off a win at Rutgers last Saturday, Indiana hopes to get another win this weekend with two matches against Iowa.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Iowa will be unveiling a new arena on Friday, and Indiana will be the first opponent to play inside Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

The Hoosiers are familiar with what this is like as they opened up Wilkinson Hall just last season.

Even though Iowa won't get to have fans attend the matches this weekend, Indiana head coach Steve Aird knows the Hawkeyes will want to open things on a good note in the new facility.

"They compete really, really hard," Aird said. "It'll be challenge. We're gonna have to play great. They're opening a new arena and they're obviously gonna want to start things the right way, which I respect."

Iowa is 0-4 to start the season, losing twice to both Illinois and Purdue. Vicki Brown is in her second season at the helm with the Hawkeyes, a team that finished 12th in the Big Ten last season with an overall record of 10-21 and a 4-16 conference record.

Indiana played Iowa twice last season, and the Hawkeyes won both matches, including a five-setter in Bloomington.

So far this season, junior outside hitter Courtney Buzzerio leads the Iowa offense with 36 kills on the season.

"They've got some kids who are really fantastic athletes," Aird said.

As for Indiana, the Hoosiers are coming off their first win of the season at Rutgers, taking down the Scarlet Knights in four sets last Saturday. Indiana is 1-3 on the season and will be looking to carry that momentum to Iowa this weekend.

The biggest thing for Aird's squad is just the improvement every day. Indiana is a young team, and each day there is something new for this team to learn and get better at.

"We keep getting experience," Aird said. "That's the most fun thing. This is a fantastic group. They're fun to be around. They've got great attitudes. They work awfully hard every day, and the future is bright. We're just excited."

For freshman middle blocker Leyla Blackwell, playing matches and getting collegiate experience under her belt has been huge the last two weeks.

Against Rutgers, Blackwell had six blocks in each of the two games. She currently ranks eighth in the Big Ten in blocking at 1.21 blocks per set.

"I mean, club is nothing compared to the Big Ten," Blackwell said. "The experience we've gotten the last two weeks has definitely helped."

She's credited some of Indiana's more experienced players, such as Breana Edwards, Brooke Westbeld, Emily Fitzner and Haley Armstrong as reasons why the freshmen have had easier transitions on the court so far.

With a such a choppy offseason, Indiana finally feels like its starting to get into a rhythm with two matches every weekend.

"The rhythm we've gotten into as a team, I mean we got back from Rutgers late Saturday night, we had a day off and we're back at it again and we're ready for Iowa this week," Blackwell said. "So, it's definitely challenging to get used to, especially since a lot of us haven't done it before, but it's really fun getting to just play volleyball and keep working all the time."

Both of Indiana's matches this weekend will be at 5 p.m. ET on BTN Plus.