Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Penn State
#3 Penn State Defeats Hoosiers
9/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana Hoosier volleyball team dropped to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten after suffering a loss to #3 Penn State Friday night at University Gym. Ohio State comes to Bloomington Saturday night for a 7 PM showdown with the Hoosiers at University Gym and the first 100 students in attendance get a free t-shirt.
"We had some specific goals coming into this match," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar. "We wanted to pass a 3.7, get so many aces a game and keep them out of system. And we wanted to better the score every game. We did a really good job of reaching those goals."
Game one began as a see-saw battle as the score was tied at 13-13. Unfortunately, the Nittany Lions began to slowly pull away for the 30-19 win. Junior Erica Short did, however, connect on three game-one kills.
The Hoosiers were able to slow down the Penn State offensive attack in game two, holding them to a .188 hitting efficiency. Senior Lauren Ditteon led the way with three blocks in the game. Freshmen middle blockers Taylor Wittmer and Ashley Benson each chipped in two rejections of their own in the second stanza. But in the end, PSU was able to pull off the 30-22 win.
"I think we took a big step tonight," said Dunbar. "If you can compete against the number three team in the nation, you are going to beat a lot of other teams."
Indiana came out of the locker room loaded with enthusiasm for game three, and it showed as the Hoosiers out-killed Penn State in game three, 14-13. IU continued to make pushes to get back into the match, but the Nittany Lions always seemed to have an answer in the 30-22 win.
"I was really proud of them tonight," said Dunbar. "I think Penn State went to the locker room knowing that Indiana came to play hard tonight."
"I told my team if they come in here tomorrow night with the same intensity they had tonight, then Ohio State is going to have their hands full," said Dunbar. "They need to maintain that intensity they had tonight, and if they do that they are going to surprise some people."
As mentioned above, the Hoosiers will play Ohio State Saturday night at 7 PM inside University Gym.
Players Mentioned
