IU to face Duke, North Carolina

The IU Volleyball team (8-1) travels to North Carolina this weekend to take on ACC members Duke University and North Carolina University in the annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Hoosiers are coming off a winning weekend in the Hoosier Classic
tournament.

“We are so excited to have this opportunity to play some of the best teams in the entire nation,” senior Caitlin Hansen said.

Friday night, the Hoosiers head to Cameron Indoor Stadium, home of the Blue Devils (7-2). Duke’s only two losses came from Minnesota and Florida, who at the time were ranked No. 4 and No. 9 in Division 1 respectively, and have since switched places in the rankings.

They are led by junior Jeme Obeime, who led the Blue Devils with 40 kills last weekend in their tournament.

“(Duke’s) offense is really good. They have some real key components, and they move their outsides around,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They run a pretty clean offense. It is going to be a really good match.”

On Saturday, IU will take on North Carolina (9-0) in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are undefeated and ranked No. 15 in the nation.

They have swept seven of their nine matches. Jovana Bjelica leads the team in kills, while Jordyn Schnabl leads in assists and Ece Taner leads in digs.

“They have a very good right side. They have a Serbian that I think is going to be really good,” Dunbar said. “They return the ACC freshman of the year, and they know how to win. Playing them at home is going to be a tough task for us.”

IU will have to play their best volleyball to come out with two more wins this weekend, Dunbar said.

“We have to play very similar to the way we played UAB,” Dunbar said. “If we can play at that type of level I think we will have some good opportunities this weekend.”

Hansen said she admits part of what goes into winning is mental.

“We have to expect to win, no matter what the circumstances are,” Hansen said. “It’s our biggest thing right now is our mentality. We’re trying to build it up each day in practice.”

Another challenge the Hoosiers will face for the first time this season is being the underdog, but the players said they do not see themselves that way.

“We’ve heard (that we are the underdogs), but honestly that motivates us even more to work harder,” Hansen said. “We get a laugh out of it because we don’t feel like underdogs .”

Freshman Taylor Lebo echoed Hansen in her words about being the underdogs.

“I don’t think we are considered the underdogs,” Lebo said. “I think we are just as skilled and as competitive and aggressive as any team. We are going to do great things this season.”

Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.