Indiana setter Teodora Kričković headlines our week with 77 assists across two Big Ten matches, including 38 in a road sweep at Ohio State, and is our Performer of the Week. On the basketball side, the exhibition season wrapped up for several of our athletes, with Noa Zemljić hitting the shot that gave UMass its biggest lead in a win at Harvard and Maruan Čičić starting for UW-Green Bay in a win over Illinois State.

Performer of the Week: Teodora Kričković — Indiana University

Kričković ran the Hoosiers’ offense through a demanding Big Ten road-and-home week. On Friday, October 23, No. 18 Indiana swept Ohio State 3–0 (25–23, 25–23, 25–18) at the Covelli Center in Columbus, with Kričković distributing 38 assists in just three sets and adding 7 digs, 2 kills, an ace and 2 block assists. The Hoosiers’ recap called it back-to-back Big Ten road sweeps.

On Sunday, October 25, she followed with 39 assists and 7 digs against No. 16 Penn State at Wilkinson Hall, where Indiana took the second set 25–22 before falling in four. For the week she totaled 77 assists, 14 digs, 3 kills, an ace and 1.5 blocks. Kričković entered the week 139 assists short of 2,000 for her career, a mark only 11 players in program history have reached, and she is now closing in fast.

Box score at Ohio State · Recap at Ohio State · Box score vs. Penn State · Recap vs. Penn State

Noa Zemljić — UMass

UMass closed its exhibition slate unbeaten with an 82–74 win at Harvard on Friday, October 23, and Zemljić delivered one of the night’s key moments. He scored 5 points in 10 minutes, going 1-for-2 from the field and from three, and his triple stretched the lead to its high point. In the words of the UMass recap: “A Noa Zemljic 3-pointer gave the Minutemen their largest lead, 69-53.” Student outlet Amherst Wire highlighted the same shot. It caps a productive preseason for Zemljić, who was also named in the recap of UMass’s win over Rhode Island earlier in October.

Box score · UMass recap · Amherst Wire

Maruan Čičić — UW-Green Bay

Čičić was in the starting lineup on Saturday, October 24, as Green Bay picked up its first preseason win, 79–71 over Missouri Valley Conference side Illinois State at the Kress Center. He contributed 4 points and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes, shooting 2-for-4 from the field, in a balanced win where five Green Bay players reached double figures. It was a strong final tune-up before the regular season opens on November 2.

Box score · Recap

Also on the court this week

Tadej Colnarič (UW-Green Bay) also played in the Phoenix’s win over Illinois State.

Coming up

  • Indiana volleyball heads north for two more Big Ten road matches: at Michigan State on Friday, October 30, and at Michigan on Saturday, October 31. Kričković could reach 2,000 career assists that weekend.
  • Bradley (Dimitrije Pavlović) hosts SIUE in an exhibition on Wednesday, October 28.
  • JUCO tip-offs: Dodge City (Matias Haliseva) plays at the WTC Classic in Snyder, Texas, and College of Southern Idaho (Emil Hirvonen) hosts its home invitational in Twin Falls, both October 30–31. Most of our NCAA Division I clients open the regular season on Monday, November 2.

Follow our athletes on Instagram @nilplusgroup. Recruiting inquiries: momir@nilplusgroup.com

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