Volleyball team falls to Iowa, No. 6 Minnesota

The volleyball team dropped two Big Ten games this weekend in its conference home openers. The Hoosiers are 10-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten.\nIU fell to Iowa (7-5, 3-1) in five games Friday (5-15, 15-12, 15-9, 7-15, 6-15) and then dropped three consecutive games to No. 6 Minnesota Saturday (15-9,15-12, 15-8).\nThe Hoosiers lacked momentum and energy in its first game against Iowa. Only four players managed to produce a hitting percentage number. Sophomore setter Laurie Gardner and sophomore outside hitter Hillary Toivonen didn't post their usual strong numbers.\n"Coach said it in the locker room (after the game) that we didn't come out ready to play," Toivonen said. "It really showed in the first game. They jumped out on top and kept scoring, and we didn't respond."\nThe Hoosiers managed to step up their play in the second game and jumped to an early lead. The Hawkeyes tied the match at 9-9. IU held them off to won the second and third games. IU led the match 2-1 going into the fourth game.\nIn the fourth game, the Hawkeyes jumped out to an early lead. The Hoosiers rallied back to tie it, but problems with communication led to an IU loss. The Hawkeyes dominated the the fifth game with strong serving and kills to take the match.\n"Once they got one point on us, we seemed to get down," senior outside hitter Amanda Welter said. "We weren't coming back and fighting against them. We need to make sure that we become more mentally tough."\nSenior middle blocker Laura Dewitz led the team in hitting percentage with .435. Welter and freshman middle blocker Melissa Brewer each ended with .353. Brewer and Toivonen each served three aces.\nThe Hoosiers looked more prepared to play against Minnesota. Although IU lost three consecutive games to the Golden Gophers, it managed to hang with them in a match that took two hours.\n"We came out and played very well tonight," coach Katie Weismiller said. "We did a nice job of competing with them. Had this team played last night (against Iowa), we would have won 3-1."\nMinnesota jumped ahead of the Hoosiers in the first game, leading 1-6 early. The Hoosiers came back to retake the lead after a 7-0 run. The lead went back and forth between the two, until the Golden Gophers made a run to win the first game.\nIU found itself losing once again in the second game, but the Hoosiers cut the lead, tied the game and led at one point. Too many big kills and defensive blocks from Minnesota overwhelmed the Hoosiers. IU then dropped the second match.\n"That was a great team," Weismiller said. "We knew Minnesota's record is 15-0, and they're a very good team. They have a lot of offense, they're experienced and they're smart. Regardless of a 3-0 loss, I thought we came out and played very well tonight. We did a nice job of competing with them."\nWelter led the team with 13 kills and a .323 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Nicole Hill and Toivonen each added 11 kills, and Gardner ended with 46 assists.\n"Right now, we're trying to learn how to limit the strengths from the other team," Weismiller said. "We know that we can come back, the key is that we can't give them that string of points. And that's what we're learning right now. We just have to figure out a couple things to tweak and we can win some of these"