“I’m so shocked we played like that,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. “I felt like we’ve made some good improvements, the attitude was great and we’ve talked about doing our job. I thought we were prepared and had a great game plan and knew what Iowa was going to do but it was like a different team showed up when the whistle blowed.”
IU started the first set of the night by earning a point, but Iowa quickly took a 9-5 lead. The Hoosiers ended up dropping the first set 25-19.
Throughout the beginning of the second set the two teams were back and forth tying up points when finally the Hoosiers took the lead against the Hawkeyes 10-9.
IU fought hard to earn points but Iowa came back to steal the lead away from IU and secure another match point, 25-21.
“We can look at the match and learn from it,” senior outside hitter Amelia Anderson said. “We just need to go back to simple volleyball and play the game the way we know how to play it. I think our preparation was good but I don’t know if we executed the game plan. Iowa definitely played with a lot more heart than we did.”
The third set was crucial for the Hoosiers. They were given two options: they could either drop the set and secure another loss or fight their way to a crucial win.
During that set the Hoosiers fell three points behind Iowa, but points scored by senior middle blocker Awele Nwaeze, junior setter Megan Tallman and Anderson caught the Hoosiers back up.
A service error by IU increased its deficit to four points, 16-12, forcing IU into a timeout during the middle of the set. Although IU scored the next few points, Iowa continued to increase its lead and take the set 25-20.
“I thought it looked chaotic at times and we don’t see that in practice,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “It looks stressful and it shouldn’t be stressful it should be their party day. This should be the least stress they have.”
The Hoosiers will return to practice Friday to prepare for their next match at 7 p.m. Saturday against Nebraska.
