IU takes second in weekend tourney to St. Louis

Coming off Wednesday's win against IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and with history on its side, the IU women's volleyball team went into this weekend's IU Credit Union Invitational with high hopes.\nThe Hoosiers had won the past three Invitationals, going a perfect 9-0 in the four years the team has hosted the tournament.\nWhile the squad did not win the tournament this weekend, the Hoosiers looked strong defeating Murray State and Oregon State to claim the Invitational's second place finish, placing behind St. Louis University, which took first place.\nIn Friday night's match, coach Katie Weismiller's squad defeated Murray State in three straight games, 32-30, 30-28, 30-18. During the first game, Murray State jumped out to an early lead, but after an IU timeout the Hoosiers jumped on the Racers. Senior outside hitter Christina Archibald (23 kills, 7 digs vs. Murray State) finished the game with a powerful kill.\nIn the second game, IU once again fell behind early but battled back. With the score tied at 26, Archibald and senior Katie Pollom took over the game, leading the Hoosiers to another win.\nIn the third game, the Hoosiers took an early 15-9 lead and never looked back. With strong performances from Archibald and Pollom once again as well as freshman outside hitter Christine Nilles (16 kills vs. Murray State), the Hoosiers won 30-18. \nSaturday's afternoon match against eventual champion St. Louis was not nearly as successful as the previous night's match. \nThe Hoosiers stuck with St. Louis all three games but could not overcome the Billikens, 28-30, 30-32, 27-30. In the first game, the score was knotted at 15 when the Billikens went on a 6-2 run. The Hoosiers fought back to tie the score at 28, but Saint Louis scored the next two points ending the game.\nIn both of the next two games, IU jumped out to early leads but was not able to hold them. St. Louis fought back and won both, ending the Hoosiers' chance to win the tournament for a fourth straight year. \n"The loss motivated us," Pollom said. "We felt horrible afterwards and knew we had to play better."\nWeismiller expressed disappointment with the Hoosiers' loss to St. Louis.\n"There is no doubt. We would love to have that match back," Weismiller said.\nIn Saturday night's match, the Hoosiers returned to form beating Oregon State in the first ever meeting between the two schools, 30-24, 30-26, 36-34.\nGame one featured a strong all-around performance from the whole team, especially junior middle blocker Mandy Eberle and freshman Lauren Ditteon who each had four kills. \nIn the second game, the Hoosiers fought off several Oregon State comebacks to win 30-26. \nDuring the third game, which featured 16 tie scores and seven lead changes, IU overcame a late five point deficit to win 36-34 on a Pollom kill. \nThe very vocal, enthusiastic IU crowd got progressively louder as the Hoosiers fought back numerous times against a tenacious Beaver defense and won the game, securing second place for the Invitational.\n"Having the crowd behind us really helps," Pollom said. "When we're on the court, we feed off their energy."\nThe Hoosiers, who are replacing four graduating seniors, debuted many new players who gained their first collegiate experiences this weekend. \n"I wasn't used to having the crowd be that loud, but it gets me and the whole team going," Ditteon said.\nBoth Ditteon and Pollom were named to the All-Tournament team along with Murray State's Nikki Wong, Oregon State's Allison Lawrence and St. Louis' Lauren Boissevain.\nAfter starting 3-1 and taking second place in the Invitational, Weismiller said the Hoosiers are riding high. \n"We're very confident and gaining a little more with each match we play," Weismiller said.\nThe Hoosiers travel to Arlington, Texas next weekend to play in the UT-Arlington Tournament. \n-- Contact staff writer Tim O'Brien at tpobrien@indiana.edu.