Marschall hits milestone, Hoosiers lose to 2 ranked conference foes

Senior right-side hitter Kelci Marschall became the 16th player in IU’s 38-year history to record 1,000 kills in her career this weekend.

“She is a big cornerstone of our program,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “She has a passion for this team and the program and the school. I think she is really obsessed about volleyball.”

Despite Marschall reaching a career milestone, the Hoosiers (8-12, 0-8) fell in four sets to No. 19 Ohio State (23-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-17) and No. 1 Penn State (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-21).

Marschall was quick to give credit for her achievement to her teammates.

“It means a lot,” Marschall said. “It really reflects your teammates and the people around you, because with volleyball, you can’t do it all by yourself. You need teammates to make it happen, so it says a lot about them.”

Junior defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen said she appreciates what Marschall has taught her teammates about the game during her time in Bloomington.

“She’s a great leader for us on and off the court,” Hansen said. “She’s always in the gym early ... I think her mentality drops down to us juniors and sophomores a lot, especially during the game.”

Hansen led her team with 32 digs this weekend, picking up 16 in both matches, and she thought her team worked hard on the defensive end.

“We had nothing to lose at this point, and we were always the aggressor,” Hansen said. “We were taking chances, and I think it really showed. We didn’t hold back.”

Despite the 0-8 conference record, Dunbar said the team’s competitiveness lately makes her think they are on the upswing.

“The locker room feels like it, too,” Dunbar said. “There’s a disappointment in losing. Obviously, no one likes losing. But there’s a determination that if everybody keeps getting a little bit better, together we’re doing some great things.”

The Hoosiers were without senior setter Whitney Granado, who is recuperating from a leg injury. Freshman setter Katie Gallagher took her place and fared well, Dunbar said.

“Katie did a great job this weekend,” Dunbar said. “I don’t think we missed a beat having her in, and I thought she stepped up to the challenge and ran the team just fine.”

Before Penn State played IU, they had blown through Big Ten competition, losing only four of the 25 sets the team had played against conference foes this season.

With the Nittany Lions up two sets to one, IU had a chance to steal the fourth set.

“In the fourth set, we were up 7-0 against the No. 1 team in the country, so I thought we did some really good things against them,” Dunbar said.

Penn State went on an 8-1 run to close the gap, and IU was never able to recapture the momentum.

“We had a lot of goals that we wanted to accomplish this weekend,” Marschall said. “I think we’re really making strides in the right direction as far as really competing and battling with those teams.”