Second place finish familiar for IU

Coming off a second place finish in last week's IU Credit Union Invitational, the IU women's volleyball team traveled south to take part in the 2004 Arlington/Hilton University of Texas-Arlington Invitational over the weekend.\nFor the second weekend in a row, the squad won second place, losing to eventual champion and host team, the University of Texas-Arlington Mavericks.\nThe Mavericks outplayed IU from both sides of the net. The Hoosiers did not fare well in dropping Saturday night's match against Texas-Arlington, losing in three straight games, 30-16, 31-29, 30-28.\nIn the first game, the Mavericks jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning, 30-16. Game two started off similarly, but the Hoosiers fought and took the lead on a block from freshman Lauren Ditteon. After junior Mandy Eberle's kill made the score 27-25, the Mavericks came back and won the game.\nIn the third game, the Mavs overcame an early IU lead and finished off the match with a 7-1 run.\nIn Friday night's opening match, the Hoosiers defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in four games, 30-32, 30-22, 30-15, 30-21. In the first game, the Trojans came back from a late deficit to win 32-30. The early loss served as a wake-up call for the Hoosiers.\n"We didn't know why we had lost that game," said freshman outside hitter Christine Nilles. "We should have won three games in a row." \nNilles had 11 kills and 10 defensive digs against UALR.\nPutting the loss behind them, the Hoosiers quickly dispatched the Trojans in the next three games with a balanced offensive attack. The third game allowed the offense to show off with a .485 hitting percentage as the team won convincingly 30-15. In the fourth game, the Hoosiers fought off an early Trojan rally to win the game, 30-22, and the match.\nThe match against the Trojans featured six players in double-digit kills, led by Eberle with 13 kills. \n"It was a huge turnaround for us after the first game," Eberle said. "We stepped it up and came back."\nIU coach Katie Weismiller said she was impressed with the team's effort.\n"We started off a little slow, but we were able to come back strong against them," she said.\nWhere offense led the way against the Trojans, the Hoosier defense won Saturday afternoon's match against Houston, 30-20, 30-18, 27-30, 30-23.\nThe IU defense forced the Cougars into 31 errors with just a .170 hitting percentage while IU sported a .305 percentage.\nSophomore setter Tasha Arsenych ran the Hoosier offense with a career-high 55 assists. Nilles continued her strong weekend performance leading the team with 18 defensive digs and 14 kills. Senior middle blocker Katie Pollom paced the offense with 15 kills. \nBoth Pollom and senior outside hitter Christina Archibald were named to the All-Tournament Team.\nThe Hoosiers are not letting their second place finish in as many weekends slow them down. With the TIS Bookstore Invitational this weekend, IU is a confident group. \n"Everybody is communicating. We're all doing what we're supposed to be doing out on the court," Eberle said.\nBefore the Invitational, the Hoosiers face off against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne Tuesday night at University Gymnasium.\n-- Contact staff writer Tim O'Brien at tpobrien@indiana.edu.