Volleyball defeats ISU, looks to conference play

The women's volleyball team had few problems holding its ground Tuesday against Indiana State University. The Hoosiers got a quick lead in the first game, dominating the Sycamores by as many as 10 points. After the first timeout, the Hoosiers came back to the court with a 12-5 lead. Sophomore and outside hitter Nikki Hill recorded 13 kills in three games. \n"All week we have been working on lines ... most teams don't scout lines so it was wide open for me," Hill said. "We had to respect this team ... but we made them play our game."\nSenior Disney Bronnenberg kept the ball alive each play and added the score with a gutsy dive to push the Indiana score to 23. The Hoosiers won the first game of the match with nearly double the score of ISU, 30-17.\nISU came out quickly in the second game with a three point lead, but it was the largest margin they would hold in the second game. IU eventually tied the score at 10 and fought the Sycamores. ISU gave the Hoosiers trouble with wild passes over the net, but also committed several errors. \nThe first timeout of the second game came with the Hoosiers leading ISU 26-20. Coming back from the timeout ISU senior Cheryl Berg came out swinging and added one point to the ISU score, but IU answered back with an ace serve by sophomore Melissa Brewer. The Hoosiers won the second game 30-23. New NCAA rules this season added rally scoring and playing to 30 points, but the change didn't seem to affect the Hoosiers. \n"You are to push past it, in practice we concentrate on playing points two to 14, and then go from there. You have to play one point at a time," Brewer said.\nThe third game offered a new change of pace adding sophomore Katie Pollom, senior Laurie Gardner and freshman Stephanie Blevins to the lineup. The Sycamores lead for the majority of the third game, but the Hoosiers quickly tied the score at 13. The teams then flip-flopped for the lead and tied at 16, but a forceful kill by Pollom inched the Hoosiers to an 18-17 lead. \nThe Sycamores were no match for the Hoosiers, who lead 25-22 at the timeout because of more ISU errors. Following two short timeouts IU lead 28-26. The last serve of the evening by ISU bounced out of bounds and the Hoosiers ended the third game with a score of 30-26 to win the match in three games.\nCoach Katie Weismiller said she was pleased with the Hoosiers effort. \n"Having a mid-week match we had to challenge our athletes," Weismiller said. \nAfter tonight's performance, Weismiller said she is looking forward to the upcoming Big Ten Conference play. \n"I couldn't be happier. Our team is really understanding communication ... we are getting better. We gained confidence and we know that we can be a strong team," she said. "The last few practices have been all out. I think that we are really going to surprise some teams"