Let's take a look at how the IU women's volleyball team beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs 3 sets to 1.
What Happened:
The IU women's volleyball team defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs (3 sets to 1) Friday night at the University Gym in Bloomington, Indiana to start the Hoosier Classic. The Hoosiers moved to 5-2 on the season and are on a 4 match winning streak.
The highlight of the night was Caitlin Cox setting the IU career digs record in the second set.
How it Happened:
After splitting the first two sets, the Hoosiers rallied to win the last two sets of the match to bury the Bulldogs. The Hoosiers were sparked by setters Whitney Granado and Mary Chaudoin throughout the match.
Chaudoin was inserted when the Hoosiers were down 7-2 in the second set and helped the Hoosiers with 4 kills, 2 aces (back-to-back in the third set) and 1 block.
When IU coach Sherry Dunbar subsituted Granado for Chaudoin in the fourth set trailing 8-3, Granado teamed up with Morgan Leach on back-to-back blocks to help stablize a sputtering offense. The junior setter also added 24 assists.
While hitting was sporadic at times for the Hoosiers, Samantha Thrower and Kelci Marschall each lead with 14 kills each and Ivie Obeime added 10 kills of her own.
What it Means:
Although the Hoosiers lost a set for the first time at home this year, the team remained dominant in front of the home crowd. When serving and blocking were good for the Hoosiers, the team played at a high level, but consistency will need to be the focus heading into the rest of the weekend.
What's Next for the Hoosiers:
Saturday, the Hoosiers take on Niagara at 10:30 ET and Eastern Illinois University at 7:30 ET.
Niagara is led by Hannah Hendrick, who came into the weekend with 104 kills on the season--34 more than IU's leader Kelci Marshall had coming into the weekend.
Niagara beat Eastern Illinois University before the IU-Gonzaga game Friday night--3 sets to 1.
Stat of the Night:
Senior Caitlin Cox set the IU career digs record with a career total of 1,535, after Friday night. Cox broke Juli Pierce's career record of 1,525 digs by tying her own single-game high of 27 digs against the Bulldogs, including multiple diving plays that kept the Hoosiers in the last set.
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