IU beats Iowa, loses to No. 9 Nebraska

After starting the Big Ten season 0-8, the IU volleyball team has rallied in the second half of the season, going 4-4 in the team’s last eight matches.

“After seeing the entire conference, we said ‘We can play with this group,’” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “It’s a very talented Big Ten, but we knew we could play with them.”

IU (12-16, 4-12) continued its steady play this weekend, going 1-1 out in the western outskirts of conference territory by losing to No. 9 Nebraska (20-5, 12-4) and taking down Iowa (10-19, 2-14).

Junior outside hitter Jordan Haverly led the Hoosiers in kills for both matches this weekend, and she said she thinks her team is undergoing a psychological change these last eight matches.

“In the first part of the season, we were really close,” Haverly said. “We’ve been really working on fighting hard and trying to outwork our opponents. That’s allowing us to get these wins.”

IU started off the weekend losing to Nebraska (25-11, 18-25, 25-13, 25-22) in front of a crowd of 4,109. Dunbar said the Huskers have the best fan base in the country.

“It’s the friendliest environment you can play in front of,” Dunbar said. “They just appreciate good volleyball. It was really tight and the crowd was into it. You just can’t get that anywhere else in the country.”

Being down 2-1 sets heading into the fourth, IU had a chance to push the Huskers to a fifth set for the second time this season.

The Hoosiers were up 21-20, then saw the match slip away as Nebraska went on a 5-1 run to take the set and the match.

The Huskers, a perennial volleyball powerhouse, joined the Big Ten last season and brought their tradition and fan support with them.

“I’m really happy they’re in our conference,” Dunbar said. “They’re such a competitive team, they make you step up to the highest level and they just add so much to our conference.”

IU picked up its fourth win of conference play against Iowa Saturday night (25-21, 25-23, 25-16).

In the Hoosiers’ second sweep of a Big Ten foe this season, Haverly and senior middle blocker Samantha Thrower each had double-digit kills to lead the team.

“I think we’re just finding our level of play,” Thrower said. “We are playing at the level we know we can.”

Thrower also had five blocks to go along with her kills, and the senior ranks third in the conference with a 1.28 blocks per set average.

“I thought (Thrower) dominated,” Dunbar said. “We told her she was going to have a chance to do that tonight against this team, and I thought she really embraced that.”

Despite going into the locker room up two sets to none, the team was not satisfied with their level of play up until that point, Dunbar said.

“They just didn’t feel like they were playing their level,” Dunbar said. “I thought we came out in the third set and really dominated.”