Volleyball prepares for first road trip

The IU volleyball team (3-0) will head to Charleston, S.C., this weekend for its first road matches of the year in the College of Charleston Invitational.

The tournament is four-team style, similar to the one the team just played at home. IU will take on South Carolina State, College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina.

“The first week is always a good test to see where we are,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “We have to come in hungry and fix the things we didn’t do well because the competition is only going to get better over the weekend.”

South Carolina State (0-3) was swept in all three of its matches last weekend in the Gamecock Invitational by South Carolina, High Point and Florida International. South Carolina State will play the Hoosiers Friday.

“We are just going to go in with an attack mentality the same way we approached last tournament, come out fighting and show them what Indiana volleyball is,” IU junior middle blocker Morgan Leach said.

College of Charleston (4-0) is coming off a weekend similar to IU’s, having played in the Georgia Tech Tournament and won all three of its matches against Chattanooga, Florida A&M and an impressive win over Georgia Tech.

College of Charleston also beat Charleston Southern Tuesday.

“College of Charleston is playing very good volleyball,” Dunbar said. “They have a lot of weapons, and they have a transfer from Penn State that has done a great job for them playing six rotations.”

Coastal Carolina (1-2) is coming off its own tournament, the Coastal Carolina Tournament, where it lost to Youngstown State and Iowa, but beat Wofford.

Coastal Carolina is a big, physical team, Dunbar said, adding IU must serve the ball well to win.

Serving was a strong point last weekend, especially sophomore outside hitter Amelia Anderson, who led IU in aces.

“I think going into this weekend we are more motivated,” Anderson said. “We are hungry for more wins.”

Dunbar said that she is currently limiting redshirt senior Jordan Haverly in practice.

Haverly leads IU in kills so far this season, and is expected to be one of the most consistent players throughout the season for the Hoosiers.

“We are practicing her about half, not a lot of jumping in practice, more defense and passing. We’ll see how she feels,” Dunbar said.

The last game of the tournament will be IU against College of Charleston and is expected to decide the winner of the entire tournament.

“That is going to be a huge match,” Anderson said. “We’ve known that, but going into it, we are just going to bring our energy and play our game.”

Follow volleyball reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.