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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

sports volleyball

After disappointing week, IU looks to bounce back against Rutgers

Sophomore Jazzmine McDonald attempts to block a spike during IU's game against Wisconsin on Nov. 1 at University Gym.

After IU lost to Nebraska in consecutive sets this past Saturday, IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan took to Twitter to voice her concerns.

“We did not perform the way we wanted to against Nebraska,” she tweeted. “We have grown so much this year and will get back to being “us” this week.”

IU a bad outing against Nebraska. It lost the first set by 11 points, the second set by eight and the third set by 13.

The Hoosiers (14-12, 5-8) will try and break their three-game losing streak tonight against Rutgers (7-20, 0-14). The game will take place at 7 p.m. at University Gym.

When asked if taking to Twitter was a public motivation call out her team, she said she was just giving a status of where her team is right now.

During this time of the year, she said, it’s common for players on her team to get in arguments.

But the coach added that it needs to stop.

After Nebraska, the team sat down and had a long talk about what they needed to improve going forward.

“Little things become bigger things that don’t need to,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “I don’t want to say it’s drama, but 15 girls spending hours every day together, things can get a little bit petty.”

Dunbar-Kruzan also stressed the importance of maintaining a positive attitude with each other.

“We gotta make sure we stay in the big picture,” she said. “We have to stay super competitive while not getting at each other’s throats.”

Despite its recent skid, IU still has a chance to carry out its goal, junior libero Courtney Harnish said.

“We want to go to the tournament,” she said. “We have already made strides ?compared to years past. So we ?really have big goals.”

To reach the NCAA Tournament, IU needs to shoot for a goal of going .500 in the Big Ten. Right now, the Hoosiers stand at 5-8 in the conference, so they have work to do.

The last time IU went to the NCAA Tournament was 2010, when it made the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. It finished 9-11 in the conference.

The rest of the season begins tonight against Rutgers, who is winless in its inaugural season in the Big Ten.

Not only are there potentially six games left in IU’s season, but also for senior outside hitter Morgan Leach’s career.

Leach, the only senior on the team, stressed the importance of team chemistry during this final stretch in the regular season.

Earlier in the season, IU had great chemistry, she said, and it needs to get back to that to be successful.

“We may not be the biggest or fastest, but we wanted (chemistry) to be a big factor in how we played,” Leach said. “And we have. This is way better than the past four years I’ve been here. And I think we let it slack. With any relationship, we have to work on it.”

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