In its opening weekend of Big Ten play, IU dropped matches against top 15 opponents on the road. The Hoosiers lost in straight sets to Minnesota and in four sets to Wisconsin.
No. 7 Minnesota dominated IU on Friday night, winning each set by at least 14 points. On Sunday afternoon, IU was able to take the second set from No. 13 Wisconsin but dropped sets one, three and four.
Redshirt senior Kendall Beerman appeared in both matches for the Hoosiers and played in every set. Previously, Beerman has been limited in game action as she worked back from her torn ACL last season. This weekend, she tallied five kills against Minnesota and 11 against Wisconsin, a team high.
Defensively, freshman libero Haley Armstrong led the way for the Hoosiers with 18 digs. Breanna Edwards, usually known for her kills as an outside hitter, had 13 digs in the Wisconsin loss.
In both matches, IU struggled with its attack. The Hoosiers hit only .011 against the Gophers and .146 against the Badgers. Senior Jacqui Armer had IU’s best individual hitting percentage all weekend with a .400 versus Wisconsin.
Next week, IU’s attention will turn to No. 20 Illinois and Northwestern, on Friday and Saturday night in Bloomington. They will be IU’s first home conference matches in newly built Wilkinson Hall.
Illinois is 1-1 in conference, and Northwestern has started 0-2. Both teams played Nebraska and Iowa this weekend, and neither was able to beat Nebraska, while Illinois did defeat Iowa.
