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(10/28/13 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the first time since 2010, the IU volleyball team knocked off the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans on Saturday in five sets (25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-12). It was the first win in conference play this year for the Hoosiers, who improve to 9-12 and 1-9 in the Big Ten.“It felt like it was going to happen at some point,” IU senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly said. “It’s a big breakthrough, and everyone is just so happy, especially since they are a top 10 team.”With the win, IU breaks its 11-match losing streak and gives the team a good place to start heading into the second half of Big Ten play.“It was really exciting,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “We knew we just needed a break. We’d been practicing really well. We’d been competing at a high level. We just needed to find a way to win. It’s a signature win.”IU was led by Haverly, who had a season-high 19 kills and added eight digs and an ace. Junior middle blocker Morgan Leach also had 15 kills for the Hoosiers. Senior libero Caitlin Hansen led the team in digs with 22. Freshman defensive specialist Taylor Lebo added 17. Freshman setter Megan Tallman had a team-high 52 assists.“Jordan had one of her best nights of the season, and we needed her to,” Dunbar said. “Caitlin Hansen looked just steady the entire night: 22 digs, passed well, served really well and was a great leader on the court.”A key for the Hoosiers was getting out to a fast start. Haverly said it was something they focused on in practice all week, and it showed as the team stormed out to first, a 8-1 lead and then a 16-8 lead to easily win the first set.“It was key,” Hansen said. “That set was crucial for us. It gave us momentum.”Michigan State (17-5, 6-4) was led by senior Lauren Wicinski, who had 16 kills and eight digs. Junior Kori Moster had a team-high 19 digs, and senior Kristen Kelsay led the Spartans in assists with 27.“We are fighters,” Hansen said. “We are going to work hard and not give up. If we keep having a positive mindset and the will to win, we can beat anyone. We needed that win.”Something the team had been working on that Dunbar has stressed over the last few games was the need to reduce hitting errors. Numerous players said they were pleased with how they did, and it showed on the court.“Tonight we really focused on cutting down on unforced errors,” Haverly said. “We just followed the game plan we had set up.”Another good sign for the Hoosiers was how well Haverly played. After having a slight down period, she bounced back against MSU.“It felt really good to be able to play like I know I can,” Haverly said. “I know that I haven’t been playing up to my potential the last few matches, and it’s been really frustrating.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/25/13 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With both teams coming off losses to their rivals, only one team will be able to bounce back on Saturday when the IU volleyball team travels to East Lansing, Mich., where it will play No. 10 Michigan State.The Hoosiers are coming off of a 3-0 loss to Purdue in West Lafayette, making it 11 straight losses for IU. The Spartans are coming off of a 3-1 loss to Michigan. “I’m so pumped (to get back out there),” IU senior libero and captain Caitlin Hansen said. “Honestly out there Tuesday night against Purdue was pretty disappointing, but I think we are hungrier than ever. We’ve been working really hard in the gym. I’m definitely pumped and ready to go, especially going to Michigan State because they are a great team.”Michigan State (17-4, 6-3) is tied for third in the Big Ten, and is the only Big Ten team to have beaten Penn State. However, the Spartans have lost three straight matches.“It’s the middle of the season, it’s the grind,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They are a little up and down right now, and I think you see that in all the matches right now. Ranked teams getting beat, and this team not playing great, or an ok team making a big run. This conference is a lot like that every year and maybe this is the worst year for it, there’s going to be upsets every week. You’re going to have losses.”Michigan State is led by senior Lauren Wicinski who has 313 kills and is 12th in the nation in kills per set with a .454 average. Junior Kori Moster leads the Spartans in digs with 319, and senior Kristen Kelsay leads the team in assists with 493.“The good thing about Michigan State and why they have been so successful is that they don’t have a of weak links,” Dunbar said. “Other teams are really dominated by their outside hitters, and you look at Michigan State and they have very good left sides, very good middles, very good right sides, and they have probably one of the best liberos in the conference. They are just a very balanced team.”IU is led by junior middle blocker Morgan Leach who has 202 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze has 177 kills, sophomore outside hitter Amelia Anderson has 165 and senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly has 156 kills. Hansen leads the Hoosiers in digs with 267, with Haverly adding 145. Sophomore setter Katie Gallagher leads the Hoosiers in assists with 381, but is out right now with a concussion. She is replaced by freshman setter Megan Tallman who has 365 assists.“We have to worry about what we do on our side of the court,” Anderson said. “(We have to) work on minimizing our errors.”This is the last match of a four-match road trip for the Hoosiers, who are looking to snap their losing streak that has lasted since their match against Duke in late September.“We both just lost big rivalry matches, and I think they might be more discouraged,” Hansen said. “This might be the most opportune time to get them while they’re down.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/23/13 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a televised match against in-state rival No. 21 Purdue, the IU volleyball team fell in three sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-19). The loss marks the 11th straight loss for the Hoosiers (8-12, 0-9) who are still looking for their first conference win.In the first set, Purdue (14-6, 5-4) started fast and built an eight-point lead, but IU rallied back to within two before the Boilermakers were able to close it out.“(Starting slow) has been an issue for us, not as bad as it was tonight,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “It is hard to win a match when you are constantly fighting to get back in the game.”In the second set, IU had an 18-16 lead before allowing Purdue to come back and win the set, closing with a 9-1 run.Purdue came out strong in the third once again, taking a 10-0 lead before finally giving up a point to IU. However, the Hoosiers cut the lead again to within two before the Boilermakers finished them off.“We are doing a lot of things well. A trend we have noticed is that we get down in the beginning, and then we usually out-play almost every other team we’ve played,” IU freshman setter Megan Tallman said. “That can be frustrating, but it shows that we have what it takes.”IU was led by sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze and junior middle blocker Morgan Leach who each had eight kills. Senior libero Caitlin Hansen had a team high seven digs, and Tallman had 25 assists for the Hoosiers.Purdue was led by senior Catherine Rebarchak with 10 kills. Senior Carly Cramer had 12 digs, and junior Val Nichol had 19 assists for the Boilermakers.“We are always excited for the turn around,” Tallman said. “We are already talking positively about it, we know what we are going to fix, and this team is still positive.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/22/13 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s a fast turnaround for the IU volleyball team, which, after two losses this weekend, will get a chance to redeem itself against in-state rival No. 21 Purdue at 8 p.m. Tuesday in West Lafayette.The Hoosiers (8-11, 0-8) are still looking for their first Big Ten win, but it will be a tough task as the Boilermakers (13-6, 4-4) are coming off of a win against then-No. 8 Nebraska. “I think (a win against Purdue) would boost the morale of our team, and I think it would keep pushing up our confidence,” IU junior middle blocker Morgan Leach said. “Beating Purdue would just be awesome because they are our biggest rival.”Purdue has beaten Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska in Big Ten play and has fallen to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern. IU has lost its last 10 matches.The Boilermakers are led by junior Val Nichol, who has 180 kills, leads the team in assists with 422 and has added 136 digs. Junior KiKi Jones is second in kills with 149, and sophomore Sam Epenesa is third with 147. Senior Carly Cramer leads Purdue in digs with 236.“We need to make sure we come out really fired up and strong in the first set,” IU senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly said. “Focus on our game plan and what we need to carry out, and if we can do that, then we will be able to put up a good fight.”IU is led by Leach, who has 194 kills and is coming off a career-high 20 against Iowa on Saturday. Sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze is second with 169 kills, sophomore outside hitter Amelia Anderson is third with 160 and Haverly is fourth with 154. Senior libero Caitlin Hansen leads the team in digs with 260, and Haverly is second with 143. Sophomore setter Katie Gallagher leads the team in assists with 381, while freshman Megan Tallman is second with 339.The match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. It will be the third time the Hoosiers appear on television this season. This will be the third of four straight matches on the road for IU with the final game of the trip coming Saturday against Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich.“It is a great feeling, and it is a great pride match, especially to win in their place,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They always have big crowds. It is on TV. It is a blackout.“It’s all those type of things, but in the end, it’s a volleyball match, and we need a win, and I don’t care who it is against.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/21/13 3:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Following two weekend losses, which players on the IU volleyball team called “tough,” some players expressed disappointment as the Hoosiers dropped their 10th consecutive match. IU lost to Nebraska in three sets, (25-15, 25-16, 25-16) and at Iowa in five sets (25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 16-14).IU last won a match Sept. 14 against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.On Friday, the Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-4, 3-1) dominated the Hoosiers (8-11, 0-8), sweeping them in front of a sold out arena in the new Devaney Sports Center.“They are a very good hitting team, and their outsides were really good,” IU junior middle blocker Morgan Leach said. “When we gave the ball to them they always put it away. They just had a great hitting night against us.”It was another big crowd, as Nebraska continues to have high attendance numbers.“They sell out for every game at the beginning of the year,” Leach said. “It was just completely full, and it was just a cool atmosphere to play in because everyone that was there loves volleyball and just loves to see good volleyball.“So they will even cheer for us. It’s a fun atmosphere.”IU was led by Leach, who had 10 kills. Senior libero Caitlin Hansen led the team in digs with 15, and sophomore setter Katie Gallagher had a team high 15 assists.Nebraska was led by senior Kelsey Robinson and freshman Kadie Rolfzen, who each had 11 kills. Freshman Justine Wong-Orantes paced the Cornhuskers with 15 digs, and junior Mary Pollmitter led the team with 34 assists.“They could run almost any offensive plays they wanted to,” senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly said. “It was hard for us to play defense.”On Saturday, IU fell in another close match, this time to Iowa (10-11, 1-7) in five sets.The Hawkeyes stormed out to a two-set-to-none lead before the Hoosiers came back and forced the fifth set. IU had a 13-11 lead before Iowa came back to win 16-14.“I think we started to control our side of the net better,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “We concentrated more on us than them.”IU was led by Leach, who had a career-high 20 kills. Hansen led the Hoosiers in digs with 20, and freshman setter Megan Tallman had a team high 51 assists.Haverly also added eight kills, 18 digs and four aces.“I thought Morgan had a great night,” Dunbar said. “She had 20 kills and hit for a really good percentage to get back on track. We are going to need her to do that.”The Hoosiers have now gone to three five-set matches in Big Ten play — against Ohio State, Northwestern and now Iowa — and have come up short in each one. “I know that we could have beaten them, but we take from it and learn from it,” Leach said. “I think it is pretty disappointing to know that we could have beaten them, and we were playing really well, and that we came back so far.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter at @AndrewVcourt.
(10/17/13 2:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Still looking for its first win in conference play, the IU volleyball team will play at No. 8 Nebraska on Friday and at Iowa on Saturday.Nebraska (12-3, 5-1) is coming off its first Big Ten loss to Michigan State last week and is tied with Penn State for second in the Big Ten. “They are athletically great right now,” IU Assistant Coach Paul Koncir said. “This is probably one of the better teams they have had in a long time.”The Cornhuskers also opened a brand new arena this year, the Devaney Center, which holds more than 8,000 people. It has been sold out for each match this season, presenting a challenge for the Hoosiers.“They have a new gym, and a crazy atmosphere,” IU sophomore outside hitter Amelia Anderson said. “Obviously they have great players. Playing our game in their home gym is going to be something that we really need to make sure we do because there is going to be a lot of people there.”Nebraska is led by senior Kelsey Robinson who marshals the team with 257 kills and is 10th nationally in kills per set, averaging 4.59. Robinson is also the team leader in digs with 212. Junior Mary Pollmiller leads the Cornhuskers in assists with 572.“Nebraska is a very good team,” IU junior middle blocker Morgan Leach said. “They are always one of the top teams in the conference since they’ve been here. They have a couple of really good outside hitters that we always need to know where they’re at.”Following their match with the Cornhuskers, the Hoosiers (8-9, 0-6) will take on Iowa (9-9, 0-6) in a match where neither team currently has a conference win. “Iowa is somebody that we match up with a little better physically and on paper, but they are much better this year,” Koncir said. “I think we are both pretty hungry teams, and we are going to have to compete really hard again and really work on using our offense and attacking them in an efficient way.”The Hawkeyes are led by Alex Lovell, who leads the team in kills with 270. Bethany Yeager has the team lead in digs with 306, while Nikki Dailey has 356 assists and Alyssa Klostermann has 338 assists.“I think we just need to focus on our side,” Anderson said. “Our talking, all of our communication and following our game plan and just focusing on what we do will really help us.”One thing IU is looking to do is play a clean game this weekend after recording 58 errors this past weekend.“Minimizing our errors is a big thing,” Anderson said. “We are still going up for big swings, still going for aces, but trying to take some of the errors out of our game.”The schedule for the Hoosiers doesn’t get any easier, and the coaching staff is looking to see the team bounce back from recent tough losses.“I think overall we are looking to see a continued amount of fight,” Koncir said. “We have had some really close matches, and the Big Ten is probably as strong as it has ever been in a season right now, so everyone has a challenge.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/15/13 3:26am)
With 225 digs this season, senior Caitlin Hansen’s now up to 1,060, the seventh most digs in IU women’s volleyball history. IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said Hansen brings leadership and is a great role model who will leave an enduring legacy.
(10/14/13 3:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Closing out sets has been the biggest problem for the IU volleyball team
(8-9). The team dropped two home games over the weekend, falling to
Northwestern on Friday (25-18, 22-25, 24-26, 25-15, 15-8) and losing to
Illinois on Saturday (25-22, 25-23, 25-20).“We need to find a
way to play strong from the beginning,” sophomore middle/outside hitter
Chante George said. “We’re really good at catching up and fighting, but
if we can get that at the beginning, we will have so much more
momentum.”Against the Wildcats (11-7, 3-3), the Hoosiers battled to take a two sets to one lead after being down in the third set.However, Northwestern fought back and was able to take the final two sets to seal the victory.“We killed ourselves in those two sets,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “We made a ton of errors.” Sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze and George led IU. Each had 13 kills.Sophomore outside hitter Amelia Anderson added 11 kills, and junior middle blocker Morgan Leach had 10.Senior
defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen led the team in digs with 20, and
freshman setter Megan Tallman led the Hoosiers in assists with 53.“We
tend to feed off of each other, which is both a blessing and a curse,”
Nwaeze said. “Everyone plays well when others are playing well, but if
one person has an off time, it kind of travels like the plague.”Northwestern
senior Stephanie Holthus led the Wildcats with 14 kills. Freshman
Caleigh Ryan had 48 assists to lead the Wildcats, and sophomore Caroline
Niedospial had 13 digs to lead the team. On Saturday against
Illinois (7-9, 3-3), IU fell in yet another close match. Each set saw
the Hoosiers battle but come up just short in the end. “They had
six errors on the night, and we had 27,” Dunbar said. “You can’t win
like that. The production is there, but we have to have the confidence
to limit the errors and find ways to play a cleaner game.”George
and senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly led IU, each with 11 kills.
Nwaeze also added 10 kills. Hansen led the team in digs with 15, while
sophomore setter Katie Gallagher led the Hoosiers with 28 assists.“I thought Chante was really good,” Dunbar said. “She hit 0.444 and has consistently in the last few matches.”The
Hoosiers will have to grind out the next week as they prepare for more
tough matchups. They have their first of four consecutive away matches
Friday against No. 7 Nebraska.“We are getting closer with a lot
of very good teams, and that’s just making us more hungry to get over
that hump and be able to beat teams like Northwestern, Illinois and Ohio
State,” Nwaeze said.“We’re really good this year, and we have a
lot of talent, and I feel like those extra reps outside of practice and
that mentality and thinking about it constantly is what’s going to
drive us over the hump so that we can win.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/11/13 3:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This weekend, Northwestern (9-7, 1-3) and Illinois (6-8, 2-2) come to Bloomington to take on the IU volleyball team (8-7, 0-4). The Hoosiers are looking to snap a six-match losing streak which started Sept. 20 when IU fell to Duke.“The key for us to beating both teams is finding a way to end the long rallies and turn them into our favor, and also finding a way to put balls away faster,” sophomore outside hitter Chante George said.IU is led by junior outside hitter Morgan Leach, who has 146 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze has 134 kills, sophomore outside hitter Amelia Anderson has 130 kills, and senior Jordan Haverly has 123 kills. Senior captain and libero Caitlin Hansen leads the Hoosiers in digs with 190, followed by Haverly with 101. Sophomore setter Katie Gallagher has the team lead in assists with 339, and freshman Megan Tallmen has also added 219 assists.“I think Saturday was a big breakthrough for us,” senior captain and outside hitter Jade Henderson said. “I think we are getting more hungry and hungry. I think we have hit a level where we are going to get better and better.”Northwestern has notable wins against Boise State and Iowa, but have suffered some tough losses this year to Western Michigan, Oklahoma and Arizona. They are led by 2012 All-American senior Stephanie Holthus, who has 242 kills and 171 digs. Freshman Kayla Morin has also added 140 kills for the Wildcats. Freshman Caleigh Ryan has 597 assists to lead the team, while sophomore Caroline Niedospial has 253 digs.Illinois has played a tough schedule with more than half of their matches coming against ranked opponents. They have notable wins over Florida State, Kentucky, and Michigan, all of whom are ranked. They have suffered losses to Long Beach State, Michigan State, and Nebraska. Leading the Fighting Illini in kills is sophomore Jocelyn Birks who has 204 kills. “They set their outsides and right sides a lot and don’t use their middles as much, so it helps us a little bit with our preparation this week in just making sure we do a really good job of closing off the pins with our block and our block defense,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. The Hoosiers are looking to come away with two more wins as they push for their first NCAA tournament birth since 2010.“You need about ten wins, so however you get ten wins is how you do it,” Dunbar said. “Is this a great opportunity? Absolutely. We are on the road for eight of the next 10 matches, so to pick up one or two wins this weekend at home, especially after playing well against Ohio State, would be a good opportunity.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/07/13 3:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After losing in straight sets to Penn State on Thursday, the IU volleyball team (8-7) played to a fifth set before losing to No. 12 Ohio State (25-23, 20-25, 25-19, 17-25, 17-15).The entire match was extremely close, especially the fifth set where neither team got a lead larger than two points.“It was so intense out there,” senior libero Caitlin Hansen said. “We were all so focused but all so relaxed. I think our biggest thing was that we made eye contact and said we’re going to get this kill, we’re going to get this pass. We felt like a train going full speed ahead.”IU was led by sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze who had 15 kills, while junior middle blocker Morgan Leach had 14 kills, and sophomore outside hitters Chante George and Amelia Anderson had 12 and 11 kills respectively. Hansen led the Hoosiers in digs with 24, and freshman setter Megan Tallman led IU with 48 assists.“I thought the fight improved,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “We got down in two different sets 5-0 but we came back and kept fighting and took the lead, we didn’t have that fight before.”Ohio State was led by senior Kaitlyn Leary who had 22 kills, 10 of which were in the first set. Senior Julianne Mandolfo led the Buckeyes in digs with 15, and junior Taylor Sherwin had a team-high 45 assists.“Our number one focus was to pick up our talk both on and off the court, and focus on what exactly we are seeing,” George said. “We wanted to be ahead of the play.”The Hoosiers had 1,152 people in attendance for the match, topping the number of people that went to the Penn State match.“It’s amazing just to know we have that great support system from the community,” George said. “It means a lot to us that no matter what happens they’re always there for us. That pushed us even more to go out and get a win for them and for us.”Coach Dunbar had similar thoughts.“Number one it’s awesome, but number two I feel like they’re on our side,” Dunbar said. “They see a team that has potential, they see a team that’s fighting, they see a team that’s trying to make some changes and they’re getting behind us and that means the world to us to have a loyal fan base.”After falling behind in the fourth set, the Hoosiers stormed back and won the set with the crowd behind them. IU carried that momentum into the fifth set where they took a 12-10 lead before Ohio State won 17-15 with the help of some questionable calls.“Volleyball is a momentum sport, so if you don’t get the call to go your way that’s a huge momentum kill,” Hansen said. “We should have had a bigger lead so the officials couldn’t determine the outcome, it was a close match and both teams played really well, but when it is that close, officials have got to be careful with their calls.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt
(10/04/13 2:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No. 5 Penn State (11-2) proved to be too much for the IU Volleyball team (8-6) as the two teams battled it out on national television for the first time ever in Bloomington. The Nittany Lions took all three sets against the Hoosiers, (25-18, 25-19, and 25-8). The second set was key for IU. It came out strong holding a lead and had the crowd going, but then Penn State came back finishing the set on an 11-5 run.“I felt like the wheels started to come off,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They got one point and it was like everybody started flipping out a little bit, and we didn’t stick to the game-plan.” The third set started ugly as the Hoosiers dropped the first nine points before finally winning a point. But the Nittany Lions bounced back and closed out the match, holding the Hoosiers to just blank points. “We almost got too comfortable and then we started playing cocky,” senior libero Caitlin Hansen said. “We didn’t stick to our game-plan and we started playing within ourselves and didn’t take chances.”IU was led by senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly who had seven kills, a team high. Hansen led the team in digs with eight, and sophomore setter Katie Gallagher led the Hoosiers in assists with 19.Hansen got her 1,000th dig, placing her 10th all time in Indiana history. Gallagher also got her 1,000th assist.“I had no idea how close I was,” Hansen said. “Shane (Director of Volleyball Operations) said something to me earlier about being close, but I said please don’t tell me because I just want to win games.”Penn State was led by sophomore Megan Courtney who had 15 kills, a match high. Dominique Gonzalez led the Nittany Lions in digs with eight, and junior Micha Scott led them in assists with 38. Hancock also led the visitors in aces with four.“Penn State hit .500 as a team, so their entire team played well,” Dunbar said. “I always think Hancock just does a good job with running the show. She obviously gets her aces and she makes good decisions.”IU’s team leader in kills, junior outside hitter Morgan Leach, was held to just four kills and hit .077.“It’s tough, we really didn’t get Morgan involved in the offense,” Dunbar said. “Because she’s such a good player we need to get her involved early and keep her involved and engaged.”On Saturday, IU welcomes No. 12 Ohio State to Bloomington. The Hoosiers are looking to get back on track and avoid losing their sixth consecutive match.“They do commit blocking, which means they decide before the ball is served who they are going to go after,” Dunbar said. “Our hitters will need to be really aggressive. They are a really good serving team, and they are playing really well.“They only have one loss, and it came to Michigan State who just beat Penn State.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(10/03/13 4:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>ESPN will be in Bloomington tonight to broadcast a home IU volleyball game for the first time ever on the network. The Hoosiers (8-5) will take on No. 5 Penn State (10-2) at 7 p.m. at the University Gym. It will be a red-out to show IU spirit, and the team is encouraging students to come make it loud.“We’re really excited,” IU junior middle blocker Morgan Leach said. “This is the first time that ESPN is coming into U-Gym, and we know that we play really well at home, and we have a great atmosphere at home.”Penn State comes in with two losses: No. 4 Texas and No. 9 Michigan State. The Nittany Lions have notable wins against No. 3 Florida and No. 14 Michigan.“It’s a great opportunity,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “It’s huge motivation for us.”Penn State is led by junior Micha Hancock, who has 433 assists, 42 kills, 78 digs and leads the nation with an ace percentage of 0.83.Senior Deja McClendon leads the team in kills with 96, and senior Ariel Scott has 94. Junior Dominique Gonzalez leads the Nittany Lions with 138 digs.“Ariel Scott is very versatile, hits well in transition, hits on the right, hits on the left, hits out of the back row and they utilize her a lot.” IU Assistant Coach Paul Koncir said. “When they really need points, they go to her.”IU is led by Leach who has 128 kills, a team high. Senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly adds 116 kills, and sophomores Amelia Anderson and Awele Nwaeze have 115 and 113, respectively. Senior defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen leads the team in digs with 158, and sophomore setter Katie Gallagher leads the team in assists with 320.“I am so excited for the program to get this exposure and have more people aware of Indiana volleyball and get more people involved with it,” Hansen said.The Hoosiers are hoping to repeat what they did in 2010 when they upset highly-ranked Penn State at home.“It’s super exciting,” Koncir said. “If anyone saw the 2010 match here when we beat them, it’s probably that all over again, but also on ESPN. It’s a huge moment for the program, having ESPN come here and put our gym on television. It’s just really a great opportunity, and our players are going to be fired up for it.”IU comes in on a four-match losing streak, falling to Duke, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 8 Minnesota and No. 23 Wisconsin. To beat Penn State, Koncir says the team will have to play fast.“We have to play with speed,” he said. “We have to play really aggressively and really take risks, high risk swings and high risk serves. We will make some hitting errors and hit some balls out of bounds, but I think for us, we have to risk that much to win.”The excitement for the match is strong with the players as well.“Come out, and we’ll put on a show for you,” Leach said. “We always have fun on the court, and it’s fun to watch.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/30/13 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite playing a close first set and winning the second set, it wasn’t enough for the IU volleyball team to secure a win. The Hoosiers fell to Wisconsin 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-16, 25-16) on Saturday in Madison, Wis.In the first set, senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly recorded her 1,500th kill, the fifth Hoosier in program history to reach that tally.The first set was close until the Badgers pulled ahead by two late in the set and were able to hang on. The second set belonged to the Hoosiers, who got strong play from everyone on the court, and it showed just how good the team could be, IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said.“I thought we were really in control of both (the first two) sets,” Dunbar said. “We served really aggressively, and we were able to run our offense really well.”Things started to fall apart for the Hoosiers in the third set. The team dropped to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten with the loss. Wisconsin continued its aggressive play and IU didn’t seem to have it as the Badgers cruised through into the fourth set where they finished it out 25-16.“We just didn’t give ourselves the opportunity to do the things we did in the first two sets,” Dunbar said. “I think they see the glimpses where they do play well — we have to play at that level for a more consistent period of time, especially in this conference.”On the night Haverly notched her 1,500th career kill, she recorded a total of six kills on the night.During her time at IU, she has recorded at least 446 kills in each of her other three seasons.She currently has 116 this season and is averaging 2.76 kills per set, good for second on the team behind junior middle blocker Morgan Leach.Leach led all players Saturday with 18 kills. Senior defender Caitlin Hansen led the Hoosiers with 21 digs, and sophomore setter Katie Gallagher led the team in assists with a season-high 47. “In the first two sets we just really attacked them,” Leach said. “Wisconsin is a very aggressive team, and they just go for it.” Sophomore defender Courtney Harnish had 10 digs while playing in all four sets. “I thought Morgan was really, really good,” Dunbar said. “She carried a lot of weight for us and we relied on her a lot, and I thought she came through consistently over four sets. I thought Caitlin played well. She passed well and she went for her serve more than she has in the past, and she led on the court.”Dunbar also said she was glad to see Harnish play well.“Courtney, who hasn’t played a lot for us, has really been earning her way in practice every day,” Dunbar said. “I gave her an opportunity tonight, and she came through and did some really nice things for us.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/27/13 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After falling to Minnesota on Wednesday, the IU volleyball team (8-4) looks to bounce back Saturday when it plays at Wisconsin (11-1).Wisconsin has notable victories over Louisville, VCU, North Carolina State, Pepperdine, and Bowling Green. Their lone loss came to Kansas in a tournament in Madison, Wisc.The Badgers are led by junior Ellen Chapman, who has 179 kills on the season, a team high. Leading them in assists is freshman Lauren Carlini with 340. Sophomore Taylor Morey leads in digs with 197. Wisconsin is coached by Kelly Sheffield, who is in his first season after being hired from Dayton. He was named the AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year as well as Coach of the Year in the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2012. He led Dayton to five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.“(We are looking to improve) our mentality,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “I think we have to play with more fight and be more fearless.”IU is led by senior Jordan Haverly and junior Morgan Leach, who each have a team high 110 kills, followed closely by sophomore Awele Nwaeze with 107 and sophomore Amelia Anderson with 106. Senior captain Caitlin Hansen leads the Hoosiers in digs with 137, and sophomore Katie Gallagher leads the team in assists with 273.“We’re really excited to play at Wisconsin and have another chance to prove ourselves,” Haverly said.The Hoosiers started the year off strong by going 8-1, but has hit a rough patch, having played Duke, North Carolina and Minnesota. The latter two are in the top 15 teams in the country. Eight teams from the Big Ten are ranked in the top 25.“When we started last weekend, we have 17 out of 22 ranked teams left on our schedule,” Dunbar said. “We aren’t going to go 17-0 here, but we are looking to get to a level that we want to be at.”Following Wisconsin, IU will play No. 1 Penn State at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at home, in a match airing on ESPN2. Students who attend are encouraged to participate in the red out. “It is the first time ESPN is coming to town, and I think it puts us on an even bigger national stage,” Dunbar said. “I think it’s a big match for us.”After this the Hoosiers will face No. 13 Ohio State, Northwestern, and No. 24 Illinois, all at home.Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/26/13 4:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hopes of an upset by IU (8-4) against No. 9 Minnesota (13-1) were dashed early Wednesday night as the Golden Gophers swept the Hoosiers (25-14, 25-15, 25-18). IU couldn’t get it going early as Minnesota held them to a hitting percentage of 0.2 in the first set, while the Gophers hit 0.457. “It felt like a football game, and we were on defense the whole time,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said.Minnesota kept pouring it on in the second set as IU only hit 0.088 and had eight errors. The third set was much closer as IU played much better, but Minnesota went on a run at the end of the set sealing the victory and winning the last five points. “I thought their outside hitters did a really good job finding ways to be really aggressive with their swings and get kills when they were out of their system,” Dunbar said.A big problem the Hoosiers had is that they were not able to muster a single ace. “That’s kind of a sense of pride for us,” Dunbar said. “We didn’t take a lot of risks.”The Hoosiers were led by senior Jordan Haverly who had a team high 10 kills along with seven digs. Senior Caitlin Hansen had eight digs to lead the team, and freshman Megan Tallman had 14 assists, also a team high.“Minnesota was really confident,” Haverly said. “They hit the ball really hard and were smart about where they were hitting it.”Minnesota was led by senior Tori Dixon who had a team high 11 kills and hit 0.529 on the night. Ashley Wittman and Daly Santana both had eight digs to lead the Golden Gophers, and Alexandra Palmer had 32 assists, which led all players.“(Dixon) is a first team All-American,” Dunbar said. “She is very good, and I thought she played very well tonight.”There was a bright spot for the Hoosiers as sophomore Chante George recorded seven kills and hit 0.417.“One player that really stepped up and did what we asked her to do was Chante,” Dunbar said. “We knew they were going to double and triple block Morgan and Awele, so we put some pressure on her to get some kills and she did.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/25/13 3:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After losing two games more than the weekend on the road, the IU volleyball team (8-3) doesn’t get much of a chance to rest before tonight’s match with Minnesota.“It is a very tough place to play, and I am excited about it,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “It’s on the Big Ten Network, and it is another opportunity for us.”The Hoosiers are coming off a weekend where they picked up two losses at Duke and North Carolina to finish out the non-conference schedule and will play Big Ten teams for the remainder of the regular season.No. 9 Minnesota (12-1) is coming off a 4-0 weekend that saw the Golden Gophers beat Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Dartmouth in the Dartmouth Tournament. The Gophers have also swept both UAB and Duke, whom IU has also played this season. The Gophers have picked up quality wins against Louisville and Ball State. Minnesota’s only loss was in five sets to No. 18 Kentucky.“We will focus on having really good practices before we fly out,” IU senior Jordan Haverly said.Minnesota is led by senior middle blocker Tori Dixon, who leads the team in kills with 166 and is 22nd in the country in kills per game at 4.26. She also leads the team in blocks and aces.Senior setter Alexandra Palmer leads the Gophers in assists with 433. Senior outside hitter Ashley Wittman leads the team in digs with 110.Minnesota is 34th in the country in kills per set as a team, and the Hoosiers are tied for 41st, but Minnesota is sixth in the country in hitting percentage. IU isn’t in the top 50. The Golden Gophers are also 16th in the nation in blocks per set.“We know a little bit about them, obviously, because we play them every year,” Dunbar said. “We know their players and have a feel for what they have.”IU goes into the match with four players all having similar numbers in kills, as junior Morgan Leach has 105, sophomore Amelia Anderson has 103, sophomore Awele Nwaeze has 102 and Haverly has 100.Nwaeze also leads the team in blocks. Senior Caitlin Hansen leads the Hoosiers with 129 digs, while sophomore Katie Gallagher leads the team in assists with 261.The Hoosiers have had their work cut out for themselves in practice as Dunbar has repeatedly said their passing game needs some improvement.“Serving and passing at any level, Olympic level down to elementary level, are the two most important skills that you have,” Dunbar said. “And we work on them all the time, but you have to be able to do it against pressure.”IU will return only to leave again as the Hoosiers will take on Wisconsin in Madison on Saturday. The next home match is Oct. 3, where they will play host to No. 1 Penn State. That game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and will be a red-out for all fans and students.“We’re just excited to have another opportunity to play a ranked team,” Leach said.Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/20/13 2:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Volleyball team (8-1) travels to North Carolina this weekend to take on ACC members Duke University and North Carolina University in the annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Hoosiers are coming off a winning weekend in the Hoosier Classic tournament.“We are so excited to have this opportunity to play some of the best teams in the entire nation,” senior Caitlin Hansen said.Friday night, the Hoosiers head to Cameron Indoor Stadium, home of the Blue Devils (7-2). Duke’s only two losses came from Minnesota and Florida, who at the time were ranked No. 4 and No. 9 in Division 1 respectively, and have since switched places in the rankings. They are led by junior Jeme Obeime, who led the Blue Devils with 40 kills last weekend in their tournament.“(Duke’s) offense is really good. They have some real key components, and they move their outsides around,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They run a pretty clean offense. It is going to be a really good match.”On Saturday, IU will take on North Carolina (9-0) in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are undefeated and ranked No. 15 in the nation. They have swept seven of their nine matches. Jovana Bjelica leads the team in kills, while Jordyn Schnabl leads in assists and Ece Taner leads in digs.“They have a very good right side. They have a Serbian that I think is going to be really good,” Dunbar said. “They return the ACC freshman of the year, and they know how to win. Playing them at home is going to be a tough task for us.”IU will have to play their best volleyball to come out with two more wins this weekend, Dunbar said.“We have to play very similar to the way we played UAB,” Dunbar said. “If we can play at that type of level I think we will have some good opportunities this weekend.”Hansen said she admits part of what goes into winning is mental.“We have to expect to win, no matter what the circumstances are,” Hansen said. “It’s our biggest thing right now is our mentality. We’re trying to build it up each day in practice.”Another challenge the Hoosiers will face for the first time this season is being the underdog, but the players said they do not see themselves that way.“We’ve heard (that we are the underdogs), but honestly that motivates us even more to work harder,” Hansen said. “We get a laugh out of it because we don’t feel like underdogs .”Freshman Taylor Lebo echoed Hansen in her words about being the underdogs.“I don’t think we are considered the underdogs,” Lebo said. “I think we are just as skilled and as competitive and aggressive as any team. We are going to do great things this season.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/16/13 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU volleyball team (8-1) took care of business this weekend by beating Wyoming, Tennessee State and UAB in the Hoosier Classic tournament in Bloomington. Senior Jordan Haverly was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by sophomores Amelia Anderson and Katie Gallagher.“I couldn’t do it without my teammates, and it’s really nice, especially in the last home tournament in my senior year,” Haverly said.In the first match of the tournament, IU took on Wyoming (7-3) and won in four sets (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22). Anderson had a career high 21 kills and hit 0.457. Senior Caitlin Hansen led the team in digs with 13, and Gallagher led the team in assists with 35. Redshirt sophomore Chante George had five blocks for the Hoosiers.“Katie did phenomenal — so did Megan,” Anderson said. “Both the setters did amazing, and they really set us up for success.”On Saturday, the Hoosiers faced the Tennessee Sate Tigers (1-5) and won (25-27, 25-15, 25-21, 25-14). IU had four players with at least 12 kills: junior Morgan Leach with 16, Anderson with 14, Haverly with 13 and sophomore Awele Nwaeze with 12. Hansen led the team with 18 digs, and Gallagher had 39 assists to go with 12 digs.“We changed our mentality going into the next three sets,” Anderson said. “We really focused on what we could do better on our side — minimizing errors and really focusing on our communication.”Tennessee State led for most of the first set before closing it out. “Tennessee State came out on fire,” IU coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They were communicating. They were high energy. They’re a quick, very athletic team, and I just thought they utilized that to their advantage.”Saturday night was the game that would decide the tournament winner with IU taking on the UAB Blazers (9-3). IU swept the Blazers (25-13, 26-24, 25-14). Haverly had a team-high 13 digs to go with 12 kills and three aces, Anderson had a team-high 15 kills, and Gallagher had a team-high 25 assists. The Hoosiers came out strong and made it look easy, despite the second set being close, and the feeling was that IU was always in control.“Physically, we were more dominant,” Dunbar said. “Being able to pass, which was a huge key, and being able to get first-ball kills with all of our hitters, and I thought we distributed the ball really well. I thought we were more physical than they were at the net.”Next weekend, the Hoosiers will head south and battle North Carolina and Duke in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Following this, the Big Ten season will be underway.“It’s really nice to have the record that we do going into the weekend,” Haverly said. “North Carolina is ranked in the top 25, so they’re really good, and Duke is always really good and feisty, too.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.
(09/13/13 3:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After suffering its first defeat last weekend to College of Charleston, the IU volleyball team (5-1) looks to get back on track with its second home tournament of the year. In this tournament, called the Hoosier Classic, IU will take on Wyoming, Tennessee State and University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB).“We have a long way to go,” junior Morgan Leach said, “and that makes us even more hungry for next weekend, to come out and show what Indiana volleyball really is.”Wyoming (6-1) played in two tournaments and went 4-0 in the first one against Stetson, Idaho, Montana State and Drake. In its second tournament, Wyoming defeated James Madison and Presbyterian, and was defeated by CSU Bakersfield. The Cowgirls are led by senior Becky Stewart, who leads the team in digs, and by redshirt freshman Mikaela Ryshytylo, who leads the team in kills.“Both Wyoming and UAB are playing really good volleyball right now. I think both will be a challenge for us,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said.Tennessee State (1-2) lost to Southern Alabama and Georgia Southern and beat Utah State in its only tournament of the season. The Tigers are led by redshirt junior Naomi Wells, who leads the team in kills and is a close second to junior Ileanushka Maldonado in digs.“We take it one match at a time,” Dunbar said. “A win is a win right now, and I think we have done a pretty good job. Every tournament has had a team we don’t want to overlook, and I think we have handled that well and will continue to do it.”UAB (7-2) comes to Bloomington with wins against Mercer, Jacksonville State, Presbyterian, Samford, North Dakota, Austin Peay and Georgia State. The Blazers’ two losses came from Minnesota and Virginia Tech. They are led by sophomore Sam Skinner, who leads the team in kills, and by senior Becca Howard, who leads the team in assists.“We have to step in and know that these teams are coming out to win,” sophomore setter Katie Gallagher said. “We have great chemistry and we need to use that to our advantage.”IU also has a player who is somewhat in the national spotlight this year. Redshirt senior Jordan Haverly is third of all active NCAA players in kills, behind only Megan Devine of East Tennessee State and Lauren Wicinski of Michigan State, who leads all players.“Hopefully this year we will open up even more for her this year, because of the type of athletes we have in our program,” Dunbar said. “The most important thing, though, is that our team wins, and I think she would say the same thing.”Dunbar also said she expects the team to be able to bounce back from its loss on Saturday in this tournament, especially because of the team’s leaders.“We had our first loss Saturday night, and Monday they came in and had one of their best practices of the season,” Dunbar said. “(Caitlin Hansen) is another coach on the floor, which is what you want your libero to be. Her leadership has changed dramatically from last year, from a more supportive role last year to a more demanding role this year.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter at @AndrewVcourt.
(09/09/13 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU volleyball team (5-1) picked up two more wins and suffered its first loss of the season over the weekend at the College of Charleston Invitational. The Hoosiers had two players make the all-tournament team — senior defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen and junior middle blocker Morgan Leach. Hansen led the team with 29 digs, and Leach led the team in kills with 32.“Morgan Leach had just a great tournament,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “She was our best player the entire weekend. Caitlin Hansen was also very good. She led very well, stayed in the match all the time and did a really good job carrying a lot of the load for us with passing and defense.”Friday, IU swept South Carolina State (25-13, 25-22, 25-16). Leach had 11 kills and four aces. Sophomore Katie Gallagher had a season-high 31 assists with two blocks.Freshman Taylor Lebo had a team-high 10 digs and added five aces, which tied her for second-most in IU history for aces in a three-set match. “This weekend we came out on fire. Our biggest thing was our attack mentality,” Hansen said.Saturday, the Hoosiers swept Coastal Carolina (25-21, 25-21, 25-21). Sophomore Awele Nwaeze had a team-high 11 kills with three blocks, while sophomore Chante George had a career-high seven kills. “We came out and got some big leads and did a pretty good job with our serving,” Dunbar said.Saturday, College of Charleston came out on top (22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21).“Charleston is a really good team. They have a lot of really great hitters,” Leach said. “It’s kind of a wake up call.”Dunbar said College of Charleston is the best team IU has played this season.“They have gone to the tournament 12 years in a row, so they have a kind of swagger about them and they expect to win,” Dunbar said. “They might only lose one or two matches this year.”Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.