IU loses twice after 1-0 set leads to Illinois, Northwestern

The IU volleyball team (8-8, 0-4 in the Big Ten) jumped to a 1-0 set lead against Illinois and Northwestern this weekend, then proceeded to lose the next three sets, losing both matches.

IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said she liked how her team started and finished the matches, but she said her team needs to address the little spurts they let the opposing teams have.

“At points in time, we lose three or four points in a row,” Dunbar said. “It’s those strings of points that get us.”

This problem has plagued the team all season. In first sets, the team is 12-4 on the year. However, their overall record does not reflect their first set success.

“Honestly, I think we played hard in the first game and maybe let up a bit,” junior outside hitter Jordan Haverly said. “The other team had more incentive. It was not for a lack of working hard and trying for sure.”

After taking a set from the national championship runners up Illinois, the Hoosiers fell in four sets (22-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-20).

The first set saw a momentum shifting 8-0 Hoosier run sparked by two aces from junior defensive specialist Melanie Hicks to take an 18-11 lead.

From that point on, the Illini outscored the Hoosiers 86-56 in the match.

The Illini kept a 20-11 lead in the second set when senior setter Whitney Granado was replaced by freshman setter Katie Gallagher.

“I think (Granado) is just fatigued,” Dunbar said. “When you come back from not practicing for two and a half months or so and you come in, I think she’s going to battle fatigue a little bit.”

Before the fourth set, freshman defensive specialist Courtney Harnish replaced junior defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen at libero. Harnish thought she responded well to the challenge.

“I was so ready,” Harnish said. “I’ve been working for it, and I wanted to make a difference.”

Harnish started at libero in place of Hansen in the Northwestern match. Dunbar saw a confidence in her that needed to be implemented on the court.

“We’re looking for confidence on the court,” Dunbar said. “And I really felt like she was showing a lot of confidence. When she was in at (defensive specialist), she was just nonstop talking, really still and there was a confidence about her we could feel on the coaches’ staff.”

Harnish had a match-high 19 digs, but her team fell short (23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-23).

Even with the loss, Harnish’s teammates said they were impressed with the freshman’s play.

“She did great,” Haverly said. “She played out of her mind today.”

Haverly had a match-high 23 kills, and she thought her team competed hard against Northwestern and could have taken the match.

“I think tonight we’ve fought as hard as we’ve ever fought this season,” Haverly said. “We’re all really proud of tonight, and if one or two things would have gone differently, we would have gone into the fifth set, and we think we would have had them.”