IU plays in-state rival Purdue

It is not for the Oaken Bucket, but the emotion of the IU-Purdue rivalry will be amped up for tonight’s women’s volleyball match as the Hoosiers bring a 10-game losing streak into West Lafayette, Ind.

“It comes down to a pride issue,” junior middle blocker Samantha Thrower said. “They are our in-state rivals. They are the team we really want to beat this week, so we are going all out.”

In two matches last weekend, the Hoosiers were swept by two top-25 ranked teams, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State. The current 10-game losing streak is the longest since IU Coach Sherry Dunbar took over the program, one year after the Hoosiers lost the last 19 games of the 2006 season.

Through the losing streak, Dunbar said the team’s morale is still positive.

“There have been no problems, no negative deterrents,” Dunbar said. “I’m very proud of them. It’s still easy to come into the gym with them.”

On the court, the Boilermakers’ attack is led by outside hitter Ariel Turner, with 295 kills and a 4.68-kills-per-set average for the season and middle blocker Tiffany Fisher, who leads the Big Ten with a .424 hitting percentage.

Senior libero Caitlin Cox said the only way IU can effectively control Turner is by locating her on the floor every play.

“We just can’t let her get on her runs,” Cox said. “She can hit anywhere on the court. She is someone that as a front row, we always need to be on top of where she is at on the floor, because she will move around.”

Before the Purdue game every year, the team must practice with the Purdue fight song blaring on the speakers, an IU tradition she said gives her another reason to despise Purdue.

“It is so loud in there that you have to learn to drown that out and only listen to what’s going on on the court and with the coaches,” Cox said. “We do this every year. It’s terrible.”

Junior right-side hitter Kelci Marschall and junior outside hitter Ivie Obeime are leading the team with 227 kills and 161 kills, respectively.

Dunbar said the attack has been better as of late, but the team still needs to step it up against Purdue.

“First ball kills is still the main focus for us in practice,” Dunbar said. “We did a better job over the weekend, but we still didn’t do a good enough job to take it to another level.”

Dunbar said the records get thrown out the window whenever these two rivals tango.

“Anytime you play your rival, it’s always a competitive match and an emotional match for both teams,” Dunbar said. “We have had losing seasons and have come back and beat them and have had winning seasons, like last year, and lost to them both times. It’s that one match you play with a lot of emotion and