Indiana University Field Hockey Upsets No. 2 Iowa in Iowa City Indiana Field Hockey opened Big Ten play with a victory against No.2 Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa at Grant Field on Friday evening. The Hoosiers improve to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the B1G. Fourth year midfielder Javi Baeza put the Hoosiers on the board early, notching in a goal in the second minute to give them the 1-0 advantage. Baeza’s early strike makes the fifth game in a row where the Hoosiers have scored first. In the remainder of the first, IU did not allow Iowa any shots on goal. Third year goalkeeper Sadie Canelli made crucial contributions in the second quarter, making a save to prevent the Hawkeyes from tying up the score. As play went into the break, IU totalled three shots and Iowa attempted two. Second year forward Celia Arroyo Cabezudo opened the third quarter with a goal of her own, making the Hoosier advantage steeper (2-0).
Second year forward/ midfielder Molly Stutte helped the effort as the third continued into the 40th minute, knocking a shot in the cage behind the goalkeeper to put the Cream and Crimson up 3-0. Iowa continued to add shots in the third, but only one stayed on goal. The Hawkeyes notched their first goal in the 50th minute, making it a 3-1 contest with ten minutes left to play. Despite the opposition picking up the momentum, Indiana kept control of the ball to conclude the contest 3-1. The victory against the No.2 Hawkeyes is the first top-2 win in program history. The last time IU beat a top-5 ranked team was in 2014 against No.4 Duke, defeating them 3-2 at home. Indiana out-shot its opponent on goal by three strikes, totally five SOG while Iowa was allowed just two. Berta Saenz de Santa Maria got the only assist for IU, helping with the final goal by Stutte. IU will stay in Iowa City, Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a non-conference matchup at Grant Field.
Indiana University Women’s Volleyball Beats Coastal Carolina to Open the Weekend Second-year outside hitter Jaidyn Jager, the floor captain for this year’s team, came up big when her number was called. She paced the Indiana volleyball team (6-2, 0-0 B1G) with 18 kills in a four-set (25-14, 25-18, 21-25, 25-15) win over Coastal Carolina on Friday (Sept. 18) evening at the HTC Center. It is her seventh-straight match with 10+ kills on the campaign. Despite dropping the third set, IU was in control most of the night. Jager was joined in double figures by fifth-year middle blocker Kiki Granberry (season-high 13 kills) and first-year outside hitter Sara Snowbarger (10 kills). Granberry hit .478 on the night and came up one short of matching her career high. Snowbarger provided the second double-digit kill effort of her young career.
The burden of IU’s season-high 18 service errors were met by 12 aces from the end line, the first double-digit performance of the year. Six different players provided at least one ace, led by a career high four from second-year setter Teodora Krickovic. The Serbian added 46 assists, three digs and five kills. All five of her primary attackers had at least five kills for the fourth-straight contest. With the commanding win over Coastal Carolina, IU has now won four-straight games. A plethora of unforced errors from IU kept the match going longer than it should have. The Hoosiers had 34 total errors including 18 from the end line. When it mattered the most, IU’s offense came back to life. In all three sets that IU won, it hit above .375. That includes a blistering .583 rate in the opening frame. Second-year outside hitter Jaidyn Jager is IU’s go-to attacker and stepped up to the occasion on Friday evening. She had 18 kills while hitting .381 across the four sets. She chipped in eight digs, one assist and one ace. Three Hoosiers produced at least 10 kills.
Second-year setter Teodora Krickovic had one of her typical all-around nights with 46 assists, three digs, five kills and a career-high four aces. Since she has taken over the reins of IU’s offense, the program is now 5-0 when she records at least five kills in a match. It’s the third time this year it has happened (5 – at Coastal Carolina, 5 – at Southern Indiana and 7 – vs. Texas A&M). Fifth-year middle blocker Kiki Granberry exploded for her best offensive match of the season. She came through with 13 kills, one shy of her career high, on a .478 hitting percentage. It’s the 10th time in her career, and the first time as a Hoosier, that she’s gone for double-digit kills.
Second-year libero Hannah Leftridge has taken the libero jersey and run with it this year. The Missouri native chipped in a career high 21 digs to pair with two aces and two assists. It’s the fifth time she’s had double-digit digs this year and the sixth time she’s had a match with an ace on the campaign. Six different players contributed a total of 12 aces as IU caused all sorts of pressure from the end line. Krickovic (4), Leftridge (2), second-year defensive specialist Audrey Jackson (2) and third-year setter Sade Ilawole (2) all had multiple aces. It’s the most aces that IU has had in a match since Nov. 24, 2023 (14 – at Michigan State).
Indiana University Men’s and Women’s basketball will have top-20 5-star recruiting targets on campus this weekend Both the IU men’s and women’s basketball programs will have national top-20 5-stars on campus this weekend for official visits. As we previously reported last month, Chicago-area guard Brady Pettigrew is making a return trip to Bloomington. Pettigrew also visited IU last October on an unofficial visit. The Indiana staff offered him in May. The 6-foot-4 Pettigrew averaged 20 points per game as a sophomore, to go with four rebounds and three assists for Bolingbrook H.S. The 5-star prospect is the No. 14 overall player in the 2028 class, and the No. 1 combo guard based on the industry average. He’s also the top player in Illinois in the class. There are reports Pettigrew is considering a move to the class of 2027. It will be the third straight weekend IU has had a major prospect on campus. 2027 commit Chase Branham was in town last weekend, and 2027 5-star center Darius Wabbington was there two weeks ago.
Meanwhile the IU women’s program is building momentum towards a second-straight national top-10 class. A source informed SCINN that 6-foot-4 Washington-based forward Azariah “Azy” Jackson will be at IU on an official visit this weekend. Jackson is the No. 20 overall ranked prospect in the class of 2027 according to ESPN. After narrowing her college search to five schools, Jackson will choose between Kansas, USC, Indiana, North Carolina and Cal. Jackson is the second top-20 class of 2027 prospect the IU women have had on campus in as many weeks. 6-foot guard Ry Carter (No. 13 at ESPN) from Pennsylvania was at IU on an official visit last weekend. IU landed the No. 8 2026 recruiting class according to ESPN.
Record-setting Indiana University Women’s Basketball guard Shay Ciezki signs contract with Phoenix Mercury Twenty-four hours after dropping a career-high 22 points against Portland, IU women’s basketball alum Shay Ciezki signed a rest-of-season contract with the Mercury. The 5-foot-7 guard was on a developmental deal with Phoenix, totaling 47 points on 55.6% shooting (50% 3FG), 10 assists and nine rebounds in five games played. Ciezki’s career night Thursday vs. Portland was highlighted by a 17-point third quarter. That’s a Mercury record for points in a quarter by a rookie and is tied for second-most in WNBA history. Of the five other rookies to accomplish the feat, three were No. 1 picks (Azzi Fudd, Rhyne Howard, Seimone Augustus), Olivia Miles was taken second overall, and Justine Pissott was a second-round pick. Ciezki signed with Phoenix as an undrafted free agent in April.
In fact, Ciezki is on her third stint with the Mercury, having been waived in early May — after totaling 10 points and seven steals during the preseason — then again on June 4 so the team could acquire Kiana Williams. Williams was signed by the Sparks on June 19, so Phoenix brought Ciezki back on a developmental deal. She made her WNBA debut against the Indiana Fever on June 22, netting a 3-pointer and guarding Caitlin Clark in her two minutes played.
“She’s a little spark plug. She comes to work every day,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said afterwards. “Our veterans really enjoy having her around. She’s got the ability to make a shot and can play both with and without the ball. … She did such a good job in camp, we thought it’d be great to bring her back.” Ciezki posted a 53/45/91 with a school-record scoring average of 22.8 points in her final season at IU, becoming just the second NCAA Division I women’s basketball player all-time to record a 50/40/90 while scoring at least 20 points per game. The Mercury have three games remaining: A home-and-home vs. Dallas, followed by the season finale vs. Las Vegas.
Indiana Fever Star Kelsey Mitchell sets WNBA single-season scoring record Kelsey Mitchell scored 33 points to set a WNBA season scoring record, Caitlin Clark had 28 points and matched a season high with 14 assists and the Indiana Fever beat the Toronto Tempo 103-85 on Friday night for their eighth win in 10 games. With a 3-pointer in the third quarter, Mitchell eclipsed the 1,021 points A’ja Wilson scored for Las Vegas in 2024. Mitchell has 1,034 points this season. Mitchell also scored at least 20 points for the 25th consecutive game, extending her WNBA record. She shot 12 for 17 and went 7 for 11 from 3-point range. Clark shot 7 for 15 and went 2 for 8 from distance for her 14th double-double in her first game since helping the U.S. win the women’s FIBA World Cup in Germany. She made 12 free throws without a miss. The game was the first for both teams following a nearly three-week World Cup break.
Clark also had 14 assists in a home win over Toronto on June 16. Toronto’s Laura Juskaite scored 22 points and Kiki Rice had 18. Isabelle Harrison and Temi Fagbenle each scored 16 points, but the Tempo lost their fifth straight. Toronto started its inaugural season 9-9 but has gone 2-21 since. The Tempo were without guard Marina Mabrey. On Wednesday, the team said Mabrey will miss the final four games of the season because of a right adductor injury. Mabrey hasn’t played since a home loss to Indiana on Aug. 18. Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley attended the game. The Fever return to action this afternoon with a 4 p.m. game at home against the Washington Mystics. That game can be seen live on WTHR Channel 13 in Indianapolis. There are just three regular season games remaining before the start of the WNBA playoffs.
Indianapolis Indians Drop Heartbreaker in 10 Innings to Gwinnett The Indianapolis Indians fell, 8-7, to the Gwinnett Stripers in extra innings on Friday night at Gwinnett Field. The Indians held the contest’s lead from the second inning, but the Stripers made a late game-tying push in the ninth and grabbed momentum for a 10th-inning walk-off. In the bottom of the 10th inning, a two-out, bases-loaded RBI single from Gwinnett’s (37-36, 75-72) Brett Wisely off Michael Darrell-Hicks (L, 1-1) halted Indianapolis’ (43-30, 74-74) winning streak at six games. The Indians and Rochester remain tied for the final playoff spot heading into the weekend. In the top of the second inning, Nick Cimillo sent the first pitch he saw 416 feet to left-center field for a two-run home run, putting the Indians on the board first, 2-0.
Indianapolis capitalized on shaky Gwinnett defense in the third inning to extend their lead, 4-0. With one out, Enmanuel Valdez shot a ball past a diving José Azócar for an RBI triple and plated Mitch Jebb from first base. In the next at-bat, Jesus Castillo hit a ground ball to the third baseman Jordan Groshans, who threw home. Valdez came in safely as the ball got away from Maverick Handley behind the dish, and Handley was credited with a missed catch error. The Stripers tacked on two runs in the bottom frame, 4-2, off a throwing error by the second baseman Tyler Callihan and an RBI single from Azócar.
In the fifth inning, Castillo hit an RBI single to give Indianapolis some breathing room again, 5-2, but Gwinnett punched right back in the sixth with another two-run frame, 5-4. The Indians and Stripers each plated another run, making it 6-5 Indianapolis, with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly from Cimillo in the seventh and a solo shot from Jordan Groshans in the eighth. Cimillo struck again in the ninth with his second sac fly to give Indianapolis a two-run lead. But back-to-back RBI singles by Jim Jarvis and Azócar knotted the game in the bottom of the ninth, 7-7, sending the two teams to extra innings. James Karinchak (W, 4-3) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.
Butler University starts building multimillion-dollar outdoor tennis courts Earlier in September, Butler University began construction of a 12-court outdoor tennis facility that will cost millions of dollars. As part of the project, the university’s six current tennis courts are being demolished on Butler’s west campus — which will continue to be the home of tennis at the university, according to a news release from the university. Once demolition starts, construction of 12 new outdoor courts, including fencing, spectator seating areas, scoreboard and other amenities will begin.
“Seeing construction get underway is exciting for our program and for Butler Athletics,” Butler men’s tennis coach Sam Miles said in the release. “This new facility will give our student-athletes the opportunity to train and compete in an environment that matches the level of excellence we expect from them every day. Just as importantly, it will create greater access for junior players in Indianapolis to learn to play tennis, develop their games, and compete in new tournaments. At a time when many universities are reducing their investment in Olympic sports and tennis programs across the country have been eliminated, Butler is choosing to invest in our student-athletes and create opportunities for the future. We’re so grateful to everyone who has helped get us to this point, and we’re excited about the lasting impact this facility will have on Butler Tennis and the Indianapolis tennis community.”
In addition to donations that have supported the project, the United States Tennis Association will provide a grant to support a project of the portion. “As a player at Butler, I was incredibly blessed to have access to both indoor and outdoor facilities on campus — something that made Butler unique as the only school in the BIG EAST with access to both,” New women’s tennis head coach Natalie Boesing said in the release. “It feels especially meaningful to now return home as a coach and witness the beginning of construction on a brand-new, state-of-the-art outdoor facility. It’s no surprise that a community and support system as hardworking, talented, and committed as Butler’s is continuing to invest in its future. It takes a village, and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity this will give to Butler Women’s Tennis and the tennis community in Indianapolis. Everyone is doing their part to help move this project forward, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of what’s ahead. Gratitude, appreciation, and excitement are all understatements! Go Dawgs!”