IU hopes to bounce back against Boilers

The brooms were out this past weekend at the T.I.S. Bookstore Invitational, held at IU's University Gym. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, the visiting teams were the ones cleaning up, sweeping IU three matches to none.\nDespite losses to Kent State University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Alabama, there were bright spots and even an IU milestone that has the team confident and ready to move on. \nIn the loss to Kent State, senior Christina Archibald's 26 kills helped her set a new all-time kills record at IU. Archibald has now recorded 1,547 kills, breaking the previous record set by Melissa Brewer in 2003. \nSenior Katie Pollom also had an impressive weekend, posting 16 kills in Saturday's match against Pitt and being the only Hoosier named to the T.I.S. Bookstore Invitational All-Tournament Team.\nThe team hopes to bounce back from its three-game slide as it takes on Purdue tonight in West Lafayette. The match will be the first in a stretch of four road matches the Hoosiers play to open the Big Ten season. After Purdue, IU will play at Illinois, Michigan State and Michigan before returning home for its conference opener against Ohio State.\nDespite struggling in last weekend's tournament and starting conference play with a stretch of away matches, the team remains confident and still has its goals set high.\n"We're going to go into each match and fight," Pollom said.\nThe start of the Big Ten season marks a clean slate for the Hoosiers and gives them the opportunity to show they have learned from previous mistakes and made changes. Expectations for the team remain high, as they hope to show they have made the adjustments and preparations it takes to win.\n"Four matches, four wins. It's a whole new season when the Big Ten starts so we have nothing to lose," IU coach Katie Weismiller said.\nThe Hoosiers will be facing a Purdue team coming off a stinging game-five loss to Kentucky Saturday. After losing games two and three, the Boilermakers won game four 30-25 and were forced into a fifth and decisive game. Although the final game was close and eventually knotted at 15-15, a Kentucky kill and block on two consecutive plays would seal a 17-15 victory. The loss moved Purdue to 7-3 on the year and killed the momentum of its three-match win streak.\nThe Hoosiers have faced the Boilermakers 72 times to date and trail the overall series 31-41. Last year, the two teams squared off twice with Purdue claiming a 3-1 victory in both matches. IU is ready to put those losses behind it and start off its Big Ten season with a huge win. Facing their biggest rival in the first conference match of the season may be all the motivation the Hoosiers need.\n"I mean, come on, it's Purdue," Archibald said. "It doesn't take much to get us fired up for that match."\n-- Contact staff writer Kevin Dwire at kdwire@indiana.edu.