Volleyball loses pair of weekend matches

IU coach Sherry Dunbar said home teams win 70 percent of Big Ten matches.

The IU volleyball team couldn’t buck that trend this weekend, losing two road matches.

The Hoosiers lost to Penn State on Friday in three sets and to Ohio State on Saturday in four sets.

Coming into the weekend, IU was in a five-team tie for fourth place in the Big Ten and after the weekend was done, the Hoosiers dropped to eighth place.

“We’ve got to come out and compete every night,” sophomore setter Whitney Granado said. “This conference is just too tough to not bring your ‘A’ game every match.”

The Nittany Lions won 25-17, 25-18 and 25-22.

The victory gave Penn State 85 consecutive wins in State College, Pa. In addition, it was the Nittany Lions’ 16th straight-set victory of 2010.

The following day, IU fell to Ohio State in four sets, winning the first 25-21 but dropping the final three, 20-25, 24-26 and 23-25.

Three Hoosiers recorded double-digit kills despite not getting the W.

Sophomores, outside hitter Jordan Haverly and right-side hitter Kelci Marschall, added 15 and 11 kills, respectively, and senior middle blocker Ashley Benson had 12 kills.

The Buckeyes’ defense pressured IU with nine total team blocks to the Hoosiers’ three.

“We’ve got to find a way to get back to blocking like we were the last few weekends before,” IU coach Sherry Dunbar said.

Although the road troubled the Hoosiers this weekend, five of their last eight matches are at home.

“The comfort level of playing at home is huge,” Granado said. “We practice in that gym every day and just feel comfortable with all the surroundings.”

IU returns to University Gym next weekend to take on No. 20 Minnesota on Friday and Iowa on Saturday.