An upset win on the road was there for the taking as IU volleyball played on Saturday at No. 16 Michigan.
The Hoosiers held a 14-12 lead in the fifth set – just one point from victory – but just as had happened numerous times during the match, the Wolverines put together a run.
Michigan scored the next four points of the match, taking a 16-14 win and moving IU’s record to 2-4 in Big Ten conference play.
In the third set, IU had a 19-15 lead. Sticking to the theme of runs, Michigan put together a 10-2 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
IU was able to string together a win in the fourth set, but could not continue the momentum in the fifth.
With top attacker in junior outside hitter Kendall Beerman out due to a lower-body injury, freshman outside hitter Breana Edwards stepped up for IU, converting 22 kills. That is just one fewer than her career-high, and she now leads the team in kills with 210.
Sophomore libero Bayli Lebo also put up impressive numbers against Michigan with a career-high 26 digs.
Saturday’s battle was the second five-set match for IU on back-to-back nights after the team lost to Michigan State on Friday.
After having no service aces against Minnesota a week ago, Aird said he felt his team was not aggressive enough. The team turned that around against the Spartans by dropping four aces.
Two of those aces came from junior defensive specialist Meaghan Koors, who came into the weekend toward the bottom of the team in terms of sets played. She added 12 digs against the Spartans and added six against the Wolverines.
The fight to earn a third conference victory will be a tough one for IU, as the team’s next match will be on the road against defending champion, No. 3 Nebraska.
