Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Iowa
Trick or Treat is Sweet for IU Volleyball
10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 31, 2008
Final Stats
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team (13-10, 5-6) completed a huge comeback Friday night in their 3-2 win over Iowa (13-10, 5-6). The Hoosiers trailed two sets to none, before battling back and taking the final three sets for the victory. It marks Indiana's third straight victory.
Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week and CVU.com National Player of the Week, Ashley Benson, took a big first step towards winning those awards in back-to-back weeks as she stroked a career-high 25 kills while hitting .477 for the match. Erica Short matched Benson's kill total, swatting 25 put-aways of her own. Speaking of the number 25, Caitlin Cox tallied 25 digs on the night. Hayley Koetter and Short each put up double-doubles as Short added 10 digs to her 25 kills and Koetter corralled 14 digs and 27 assists. Indiana continued to scorch from the service line, racking up six aces (three from the right arm of Juli Pierce.)
"Ashley has been much more consistent lately, and that really helps," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar. "I really thought E(rica) stepped up tonight and had a great match."
Benson continued right where she had left off last week with six kills at a .455 pace in the first set. Also, Kelsey Hall and Cox combined for 13 digs in the opener, but it was not enough as the Hawkeyes snagged a 25-21 triumph. Iowa's offense came alive in the second set to hit .441 and grab a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.
"We were really passive in those first two sets," said Coach Dunbar. "I really got on them between sets two and three. I told our team we needed to attack them and not allow them to be the aggressors. We totally turned that around in the third set and changed the tone for the whole match."
On Halloween night, Indiana seemed to shed their costumes in the locker room and emerge as a completely different team in set number three. The Hoosiers put together an unbelievable 13-point run to go ahead 20-6. That run would prove to be more points than the Hawkeyes could muster in the entire set as they fell to IU by the score of 25-11. Short pounded home seven kills in the dominating performance while she combined with Cox for 13 digs. That was not all for Short in the set though, sending back four Iowa attacks with one solo block and three block assists. As a team, the Hoosiers hit .379 en route to the lop-sided victory.
"Once we got the momentum and the crowd got involved, we started to get that home-court advantage," said Coach Dunbar. "Those guys in costumes were great, pushing our girls along."
The Hawkeyes surged out to an early lead in the fourth set, blocking several Hoosier attack attempts. Coach Dunbar was forced to burn an early timeout trailing 2-7. Indiana regrouped at that point and knotted the score at 11-11 by wining nine of the next 13 points. The score then see-sawed back and forth for awhile, resulting in an 18-18 deadlock. That is when the Cream and Crimson put together their second long run of the night, seizing six consecutive points for a 24-18 edge. A kill by Iowa only served as an aberration as Mary Chaudoin set up Short for the set-clinching kill at 25-19.
In the fifth and final set, Benson's fellow sophomore and former club teammate Taylor Wittmer, stepped up next to Benson in willing the Hoosiers to a 16-14 victory. Benson smoked four kills on five errorless swings (.800) while Wittmer was also errorless in connecting on four kills on seven swings (.571). Cox and Koetter each came up with several crowd-igniting digs in the final frame.
Indiana found themselves down early and often, but refused to lose in the fifth set. Following an IU timeout, trailing 9-13, Benson pushed the "third pedal" and got clutch when she picked up a kill and service ace the next two points to trim the IU deficit at 11-13. Iowa's Laura Kremer responded with a kill though, putting the Hawkeyes ahead 14-11. Needing three points to simply stay alive, Indiana did much more than that by ripping off another big run of five straight points to complete the stunning comeback, 16-14. A pair of kills for both Short and Wittmer down the stretch elevated Indiana to a 15-14 edge before an Iowa attack attempt sailed long to seal the deal for the Cream and Crimson.
"I've been telling the girls all year long that if they play aggressive and stay focused, we can compete with anybody," said Dunbar. "It really showed tonight."
The Hoosiers return to action Saturday night, hosting the #13 Minnesota Golden Gophers at 7 p.m. Live audio broadcasts for that contest can be accessed via the volleyball schedule page at IUHoosiers.com.
Players Mentioned
