Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Michigan State
IU Battles Michigan State in 3-1 Loss
9/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2005
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana volleyball team fell to 6-6 (0-1 Big Ten) on the season after battling Michigan State (8-4, 1-1 Big Ten) in a tightly-contested 3-1 (29-31, 30-23, 22-30, 24-30) loss in the Hoosiers opening match in the Big Ten. Overall, the Hoosiers could not hold back MSU's offense, as the Spartans out-hit IU, .248-.162.
"We came out strong in the first game, but could not put together the points when they mattered the most," Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller said. "After we came out strong, we just lost our focus and speed. We had spurts tonight where we were really good, but could not put anything together. Give Michigan State credit, they did a nice job of running their offense and defending us. When we are on offensively, we are good. We just had some young mistakes and could not keep any momentum going."
Senior middle blocker Mandy Eberle led Indiana with 17 kills and nine blocks. She also connected at a .382 clip against an otherwise stout MSU defense.
"Mandy really played well tonight," Weismiller said. "She was our go-to player tonight."
Senior outside hitter Rachel Gerling and junior libero Sara Diehl led the Hoosiers with 18 and 11 digs, respectively, while freshman setter Laura Holm posted 49 assists. Gerling's five aces also tied her for third in the four-game University Gym record books.
In the first frame, the Hoosiers had their chances to provide a much different ending to the contest. After leading 29-28, IU could not put away the Spartans as MSU ran off three straight points to take a 31-29 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Indiana battled back in the second stanza with a dominant 30-23 triumph over the Spartans. In the game, IU out-hit MSU, .250-.047, to knot the match at 1-1.
Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, Michigan State blew out of the intermission to a 5-1 lead and held off repeated IU responses to win 30-22 and take a 2-1 lead.
MSU then put away the Hoosiers 30-24 to claim the 3-1 win.
Indiana returns to action tomorrow at 7 p.m., with a match against Michigan at the University Gym.
Players Mentioned
