Team remains perfect in season openers

IU women's volleyball coach Katie Weismiller has guided her Hoosier team into 12 season opening matches and has 12 season opening victories to show for it. \nThe latest team to fall victim to Weismiller's streak was IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, who the Hoosiers defeated Wednesday evening. The Hoosiers knocked off the Jaguars 30-23, 28-30, 30-25, 30-20 in an IU athletic team's first-ever appearance on the IUPUI campus. \n"It was a great opportunity to play someone new, someone who plays different than us," Weismiller said. "They are a very strong defensive team, very scrappy. It was a good opening match for us." \nFreshmen Lauren Ditteon and Christine Nilles both had promising starts to their collegiate careers with Ditteon contributing 12 kills and four block assists, and Nilles adding eight kills and 10 digs. \n"Throughout the preseason, girls had told me the game moved at a fast pace," Nilles said. "But I felt like I grasped everything well in my first match." \nSophomore Lindsay Cochrane led the Hoosiers in digs with 13 and Tasha Arsenych, also a sophomore, recorded 50 assists. Seniors Christina Archibald and Katie Pollom were also big contributors with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. \nThe first game of the match was tight, and after the first 20 points, the score was deadlocked at 10-10. The Hoosiers went on a 6-2 run before the Jaguars closed the gap to 18-17, but IUPUI couldn't keep its momentum going, as the Hoosiers closed out the game on a 7-0 run and prevailed 30-23. \nGame two was not as favorable to IU, as the team quickly fell behind 19-6. The Hoosiers rebounded and went on a strong rally, led by Archibald, and took the lead 25-24, but could not hold on as the Jaguars edged them 30-28. \nThe squad struggled to get back on track in game three, trailing 20-16 at one point. IU regained the lead at 25-24 and after an Archibald kill, a block by both junior Mandy Eberle and Arsenych, and an IUPUI error, the Hoosiers sealed the game 30-25. \nWith an opportunity to clinch the match in the fourth game, IU came out firing and got off to a quick 8-3 lead. IUPUI came back to tie the game at 12, but the Hoosiers regained an 18-17 advantage and didn't look back as they held the lead for the rest of the game and secured a 30-20 victory. \n"Before the season started, all the girls did a good job of coming together," Eberle said. "And we are all ready to work hard to achieve our goals." \nThe Hoosiers will continue their hard work this weekend when they host the IU Credit Union Invitational at University Gym this weekend. Since the Invitational's inception in 2002, the team has been perfect, compiling a 6-0 record in the event. The team will face Murray State, a squad which made its first ever appearance in the Division I NCAA Volleyball Championship tournament field in 2003, at 7 p.m. Friday. Saturday's first match will be at 12:30 p.m. against Saint Louis University, a team IU beat in the same Invitational in 2003, and in the second, the Hoosiers will battle Oregon State at 7:30 p.m. \nAll games will be played at University Gym located at the corner of 10th Street and the 45/46 bypass.\n-- Contact staff writer Kevin Dwire at kdwire@indiana.edu.