Intensity lost in Gophers match

The Hoosier volleyball team split their Big Ten weekend by overtaking the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday and falling to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 24 hours later.\nThe eighth-ranked Golden Gophers overpowered the Hoosiers 3-1 Saturday with long runs throughout the match. \nThe Hoosiers were steamrolled 30-19 in game one at University Gym on Saturday. Minnesota set the tone early by taking a 5-2 lead, but the Hoosiers managed to pull within two for a 9-7 Golden Gophers lead. Minnesota then ignited with a four point run that put the score at 13-7 to prompt an IU timeout. The Hoosiers then notched a three point run of their own to bring the score to 13-10. From then on, the Gophers stood strong and overtook the Hoosiers 30-19.\n"We just didn't step on the court with the intensity that we needed to, I think we were a little too excited," coach Katie Weismiller said. "Passing was off in game one, and that's not our team."\nGame two brought about a shift in momentum for the Hoosiers. Throughout the game, IU displayed impressive play. The Hoosiers and Gophers battled to a 5-5 tie, but the Hoosiers had the power for the rest of the game. A service ace by sophomore outside hitter Christina Archibald brought about a 25-19 IU lead and IU coasted for a 30-24 victory.\nGame three brought about another momentum shift for the Golden Gophers who catapulted to an early 11-3 lead. The Hoosiers could not recover from this early run and again suffered a double-digit loss 30-18.\nDespite the previous loss, IU quickly scored 5 straight points. However, Minnesota managed to claw back to a 8-8 tie with a service ace by Minnesota sophomore setter Lindsey Vander Well. Archibald took control and managed to log three straight kills to bring about a 16-12 IU lead. Archibald's impressive play continued with a service ace to bring about a 19-13 Hoosier lead. However, the Golden Gophers hit their stride at just the right time by scoring six straight points and stealing game four 30-27.\nSophomore middle blocker Katie Pollom led the Hoosier attack with 15 kills, while Archibald and junior middle blocker Melissa Brewer logged their own 14 kills apiece. Sophomore setter Victoria Zimmerman notched a career-high 18 digs with another 52 assists.\n"A loss like this hurts deep down, but we are going to take this with us into practice this week and next, any team you lose to you want to come back even harder, and so we will use this," Archibald said.\nFriday's match against Iowa was a different story with the Hoosiers overtaking Iowa 3-1. Iowa brought an untradtional playing style to the table by sending over many first and second balls.\nIU had the power in game one, blasting down powerful spikes, yet Iowa stuck around with mini-runs. The Hoosiers led most of the way, but Iowa found their notch at the right time by gaining their first lead with a block by freshman outside hitter Echaka Agba 28-27, and took game one 30-28.\nGame two began with a 9-1 IU run that brought about a 13-6 IU lead. The Hawkeyes began a six point streak of their own to bring Iowa within three to a 20-17 IU lead. The Hoosiers then reignited and coasted to a 30-24 win.\nGame three was a back and forth tussle that left both teams with nothing more than two point leads until the Hoosiers broke loose and took the game 30-24 with a service ace by sophomore Beth Heimann.\nThe final game of the match was another struggle for the lead that kept IU and Iowa tight until the Hawkeyes took a 21-17 lead to lead coach Weismiller took a timeout. The timeout proved to be the right medicine as IU took the game with a powerful kill by Pollom for a 30-24 win. \nIowa's atypical play proved to be a nuisance, but the Hoosiers took it in stride.\n"We knew that they were going to send a lot of first and second contacts over," Pollom said. "So we concentrated on getting the small balls and terminating and transitioning as best we could."\nKatie Pollom notched a career-high 19 kills while senior libero Hillary Toivonen overtook current IU assistant coach Cydryce Carter for no. 2 on the career digs list with 1,154.\nWeismiller said the weekend's split should not deter the Hoosier team in any way.\n"A loss is tough, but I know this team will come back and rebound," Weismiller said. "We will work hard and get back at it"