Volleyball hopes to add third-straight title

The IU women’s volleyball team (5-1) will attempt to win three straight invitational championships this season as the Hoosiers take an hour-long drive north to play in the Butler Invitational this weekend.

The Hoosiers are coming off a win in the Indiana Invitational, in which they took down previously unbeaten Georgia Tech to win the title.

“That was the best game we played,” senior middle blocker Samantha Thrower said. “That’s one of the better teams we played this preseason, and after the loss earlier in the day, we knew we really needed to step our game up.”

Action kicks off 2 p.m. Friday when the Hoosiers face Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Ladyjacks are 5-2 on the season with losses against Green Bay and Louisiana-Monroe. Indiana will be the team’s first match against a team from a Division I conference.

Stephen F. Austin’s standouts are Madison Hanlan and Jill Ivy, as they were named to the preseason all-Southland Conference first team.

Hanlan was also named defensive player of the week for the Southland Conference last week, averaging 5.36 digs for the duration of the team’s first three matches.

Comparatively, IU junior defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen is leading the Hoosiers with 3.78 digs per set.

After trying to cut down the Ladyjacks, Indiana will play Western Illinois at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Leathernecks are 3-3 on the season and are fresh off a perfect 3-0 performance in the Indiana State Invitational.

Indiana will be the only team from a Division I conference that Western Illinois will play the entire regular season.

The Hoosiers will have to slow down the tandem of Samantha Fournier and Katie Hosteng, who combined have accounted for a shade under half of the Leathernecks’ kills this year.

After being named the Drury Inn Jessica Barkman Memorial Classic MVP last weekend, Fournier was also named Papa John’s Scholar Athlete of the Week.

Fournier matched her career high in kills in two of the matches this past weekend, twice recording 21 kills.

In the final match of the weekend, Indiana will host team Butler at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Bulldogs are 5-2 this season, going 2-1 in their last tournament, the Pittsburgh invitational. Unlike the two other schools Indiana will play this weekend, Butler has played a school from a Division I conference; its team lost to Pittsburgh in three sets Sept. 1.

The Bulldogs’ attack features eight players who have double-digit numbers of kills this season, while IU features only six.

IU might encounter adversity on the road during the tournament this weekend, something Hanson said might be more difficult to overcome than last weekend because the Hoosiers had the luxury of playing at home.

“Everyone was getting really excited, and our adrenaline was high,” Hanson said. “It made us want to fight harder.”