FISHERS — Indiana volleyball is rather young yet added veterans to a core that will challenge the seniors who just graduated as the winningest players in program history.
Stacking top-10 recruiting classes gives the Hoosiers optimism that their best season in program history, finishing in the Sweet Sixteen and reaching their highest ranking, is only the beginning of what’s to come.
“I think that next year could be the best team that Indiana’s ever had,” Purdue coach Dave Shondell said.
They weren’t even at full strength when they played Purdue to a 2-2 draw Sunday at Fishers Event Center, future home of the Big Ten Tournament. Nor did they play it straight with their lineups, trying to mix and match combinations and find optimal lineups.
Take the libero jersey, for example. Hannah Leftridge wore the different-colored uniform throughout the four-set match Sunday after the 2025 season often featured her and Audrey Jackson sharing responsibilities with the two-libero rule. Coach Steve Aird stressed nothing has been decided there.
“I think we’re moving around,” Aird said. “I think last week we played two or three. We’ll change it next week. We’ll split the team for our foreign tour, throw it back in the cauldron.
“But I thought Hannah had a nice performance today for a freshman, for sure.”
Here’s what else IU showed before it closes its spring season with closed scrimmages.
IU volleyball in good hands with setter Teodora Krickovic
Teodora Krickovic has the keys to the Indiana volleyball program and after a year of learning, her role has grown. It would be hard to believe Krickovic is a sophomore with the experience she showed.
Standing behind the service line first, she paced IU to a 6-0 lead in the first set and had several aces throughout the afternoon. She hit float serves with the unpredictability of a knuckleball, mixing with a jump serve and a hybrid, changing pace and location.
“She’s changed Indiana in every possible way, because she’s really mature and she’s very talented,” Shondell said. “She thinks she’s the best player on the floor, and that’s what you need. I don’t care if you’re Purdue or Indiana. You need them, and she took them to a great season.”
Beyond that, at 6 foot 2, Krickovic factors into blocking, can open up IU’s scoring options by defenses having to account for her own attacks and, of course, she can distribute. The unheard element of her growth is how she’s improved as a leader.
“She’s more comfortable, a better leader, understands how to really take advantage of the players on the court and move the ball around,” Aird said. “I think she’s got a long way to go, but her goal is to set the national team, she wants to be an Olympian, and Serbia is real, and they have real good players, but I’m incredibly proud her, the language is great (and) she’s starting to learn more.”
Ella Boersema healthy after ‘gnarly injury’
What could have been a mental hurdle for Churubusco native Ella Boersema proved otherwise. The 6-2 junior middle blocker faced similar net stanchions and stood opposite the team she broke her leg against.
She went for a wide slide on Oct. 16 against Purdue, which won in four sets, in the second set before crashing into the stanchion, ending her season. She was the Big Ten’s qualified leader in blocks per set at the time of the injury, a focal point of the best team in program history. But Boersema is confident and as she rebuilds her strength.
“It was kind of a gnarly injury, but she’s had a really good spring,” Aird said. “She got cleared a few weeks back, and is still trying to find it. I mean, she’s only practiced with us for maybe a week and a half, two weeks. So, obviously, proud of her. She is a tough kid. She is a physical kid.”
Boersema utilized a tough topspin serve during Sunday’s scrimmage, and she leaped at the net with confidence and proving to be a tough block – though stats were not kept in a two-hour timed exhibition.
Returning depth at middle is something Aird likes. It is Boersema and Victoria Gray splitting time at the start of IU’s spring season. Gray played 31 games as a freshman and became the first freshman since 2007 with more than 100 blocks (106) in a season, and had the second highest single-season hitting percentage (.378) in program history (minimum 300 attempts)
“This is the first year that she’s focused on one sport,” Aird said of the basketball/volleyball star at Bedford (Michigan) High School. “She’s incredible. Her energy is incredible, she’s fearless and she’s tough, and she’s getting stronger. So I like our middle blocker room.”
Aird also is a believer in Fishers native Ava Vickers, who had her own season-ending injury that cost her the final 19 matches. Prior to that season, Vickers started all 20 Big Ten matches (played 24) during her sophomore season and had a team-high .314 hitting percentage.
What transfers Kiki Granberry, Izzy Clark bring to IU volleyball
The final element of the middle blocker rotation has yet to appear this spring: Tennessee transfer Kiki Granberry. A native of Chantilly, Virginia, Granberry is recovering from a similar leg fracture to Boersema’s, Aird said.
But she brings promise to the Hoosiers and is a difference-maker addition to a program that had plenty of continuity returning.
“She is really physical, and I think, probably ahead of both of them, when it comes to playing the game and understanding because she’s just a fifth-year senior. She’s older.” Aird said. “So, she got great experience. A few years ago, she was second in the country in hitting percentage, so I think she adds a ton.”
Meanwhile, Izzy Clark, a 6-0 pin hitter who transferred from San Diego, was able to show her ability as a six-rotation possibility. Clark was twice named first-team all-West Coast Conference. She averaged 3.23 kills per set, hitting .209, and 1.78 digs per set across two seasons with the Toreros.
“She’s just another really skilled (player), has a lot of experience, came from a good program, had really good high school coaches and club coaches,” Aird said. “So teaching the game to her is not as important as just getting her up to how physical the league is and how it’s every weekend and every night.”
Aird added her 21 kills against USC were important and showcased what she could do on film they watched before landing her commitment.
Charlotte Vinson starts at oh after year working back from health scare
Yorktown grad Charlotte Vinson also seems to be a factor for a starting spot. A top recruit when she committed to IU, Vinson did not make her collegiate debut till Oct. 12, playing in 29 sets across 11 matches, after returning from a health scare.
Her junior at Yorktown High School, Vinson went septic and her organs began shutting down. She was on life support in May 2024, yet somehow recovered to play her senior season in the fall.
She started the scrimmage and, Aird said, is a valuable part of the program moving forward.
“She’s a complete volleyball player,” he said. “She’s been on the left for us, she’s been on the right for us, she’s banging a jump serve, we’ve had her passing. Where she slots in will be interesting just based on how quickly we can get her back at full speed.
“She’s still really young, obviously, after that catastrophic thing her body went through. I think she’s going to end up being a really important part of what we do for a long time.”
Aaron Ferguson is a sports editor at IndyStar, overseeing coverage of college sports, the Indiana Fever and IndyCar. Follow him on Twitter at @Sports_Aaron.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What has spring taught us about IU volleyball? ‘Could be the best team that Indiana’s ever had’
Reporting by Aaron Ferguson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
