IU lost to both Penn State (3-0) and Ohio State (3-1) while on the road Friday through Sunday.
“We played two really tough teams in the Big Ten,” senior defensive specialist Courtney Harnish said. “We made big strides. We learned a lot about ourselves and what we need to improve on. As a team we need to come out with a fight from the very beginning and doing our jobs playing our solid volleyball consistently.”
The Hoosiers fell behind by six points early against the Nittany Lions, but caught up with four back-to-back kills to close the gap to just two points.
IU continued to trail Penn State for the rest of the match until Penn State took a seven-point lead followed by a match win over IU, 25-18.
In the second set of the match versus the Nittany Lions, the Hoosiers led early. As the Nittany Lions took a 9-5 lead, the Hoosiers struggled to keep up resulting in another set win against the Hoosiers, 25-15.
The third set didn’t last long as Penn State shut down IU with its third win of the night 25-14.
“I think Penn State is really good,” IU Coach Sherry-Dunbar Kruzan said. “They’re one of the best teams in the country and hard to beat at home in that atmosphere.”
IU had to make a short turnaround with a practice Saturday to begin preparation to take on Ohio State at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
“We had our scattering report when Penn State was over, and it was time to move on to Ohio State and find a win against them,” Harnish said.
The Hoosiers started the match against the Buckeyes by winning the first of four sets 25-22.
Ohio State came back against IU by winning the second set of the match 25-18. This set win tied up the match between IU and Ohio State 1-1.
In the third set, IU was up by four points 13-9, when Ohio State called a timeout. IU then continued to lead the set while Ohio State trailed behind by a point as the set was nearing the end 23-22.
“There was a lot of confidence, but I think we had them totally rattled,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “They were subbing people in and out, and they were vulnerable. They still found a way to win, but we found more opportunities to take the match and produce wins.”
The Buckeyes pulled away from the Hoosiers, winning the third set 25-23 and giving themselves the overall match lead 2-1.
IU eventually fell to Ohio State in the fourth and final set of the match with a final set score of 25-18.
“I think we had really great opportunities at Ohio State,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “We should’ve won the third set and then maybe we would’ve had a good chance to win the match.”
After acquiring their third and fourth consecutive losses, Harnish said she is focused and looking ahead to figure out what they can do differently to better themselves for games at home next weekend.
“Every team is good in the Big Ten, and we prepare for them the same way,” Harnish said. “We need to put in more work this week in practice, we need to use our home court to our advantage and we need to play good volleyball because everyone is a good competitor.”
Next weekend, IU will play home matches Friday and Saturday against its next two Big Ten opponents, Illinois and Northwestern, in University Gym.
