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Indiana State University Athletics

first team win
2
Navy Navy 0-1,0-0 Patriot
3
Winner Indiana St. INS 1-0,0-0 MVC
Navy Navy
0-1,0-0 Patriot
2
Final
3
Indiana St. INS
1-0,0-0 MVC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Navy Navy 25 20 24 25 12 (2)
Indiana St. INS 19 25 26 23 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Nick Rush | GoSycamores.com

Sycamores win season opener against Navy at Western Michigan Tournament

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Indiana State volleyball opened the 2026 season with a five-set thriller win in the Western Michigan Tournament, 3-2. (19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12). It was only the second season-opening victory since 2019. 

As a team, Indiana State hit .212 in the opener. Senior Kira Holland, sophomore Hadley Hardersen, and junior Curry Kendall led the way for the Sycamores statistically, with Hardersen being only three digs shy of a triple-double. The trio all finished with 12 kills with Ella Scott close behind with 11 kills and Ava Robart with 10.
 
Hardersen finished with 12 kills, 22 assists, seven digs, and seven blocks. Kendall's 12 kills came from a .308 hitting percentage with two digs and two blocks. Holland notched her 20th career double-double adding in 17 digs and a pair of blocks. Scott finished with 11 digs courtesy of an .455 hitting percentage with six blocks. Robart's 10 kills came with four aces, six digs, and a block.
 
Hardersen split in the assists category with Avery Hales who finished with 29 assists and 11 digs. Emmy Sher was the third Sycamore with double-digit digs with 15. Lily Mueller added five kills and four blocks.

Set 1 | Navy 25, Indiana State 19
The opening set remained tight, with Navy leading only 11-9 early on. Five straight points midway through the set expanded the lead to 21-14 before the Sycamores cut the deficit back to two, 21-19. But Navy closed the set with three kills and a block to go up 1-0.
 
Set 2 | Indiana State 25, Navy 20
After trailing 4-3, Hardersen helped grow the Tree's lead by five after contributing two kills, an assist, and a block. Indiana state then went on a 9-3 run before Navy fought all the way back to make the lead only 20-18 in favor of the Sycamores. A block by Scott and Hardersen sparked a 6-1 run to close the set and tie the match.
 
Set 3 | Indiana State 26, Navy 24
The third set was a battle nearly the whole set, with the largest lead coming at 15-9 by the Midshipmen. Once the set got into the 20s, the Sycamores found themselves back with the lead following a 5-0 run with contributions from Kendall, Hardersen, Scott, and Robart. The Trees closed out the set with a couple of Navy errors and another Holland kill for the set point.
 
Set 4 | Navy 25, Indiana State 23
The Sycamores broke open the fourth set with an 11-2 run and held a 16-6 lead. Three kills and a block sparked the Navy comeback in conjunction with three attacking errors by the Sycamores, and it was Navy that closed the set strong and knotted the match at two sets apiece to force the deciding set.
 
Set 5 | Indiana State 15, Navy 12
In the final set, Indiana State tried to pull away twice, holding leads of 5-2 and 12-7, but both times Navy battled back to either tie or trail by one. It was 12-11 with the Sycamores in control. Robart swung and recorded her 10th kill before Scott got the 14th point off a kill and Holland and Hardersen closed the match with a block.

News & Notes
  • The win marked the first head coaching victory for Ted Kopacz. He is the 11th head coach in the program's history and the sixth to win in the Indiana State coaching debut.
  • This was the first game that the Sycamores had five or more players with 10 or more kills since October 11, 2019 against Evansville.
  • It was the first match with a higher hitting percentage since last year (September 27) against Belmont) and the best percentage since October 24 against Drake.
  • The team's 11 blocks tied for the most in all of last season's games (tied the Eastern Illinois match on September 12)
  • After dropping the opening set, the Sycamores battled back to win. Last season, the team finished with a record of 2-16 when losing the first set.
  • Kira Holland recorded her 20th-career double-double, and Avery Hales notched her seventh.
  • Ava Robart finished with four aces, tying her career high. It's the most since the season opener last year.

Up Next
Indiana State continues in Kalamazoo tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET against Green Bay.

Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.

 
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