Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Long Beach State
Hoosiers Fall in Season Opener at #24 Long Beach State
8/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Indiana University volleyball team dropped their season opener Friday night, falling at #24 Long Beach State University, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21). Ashley Benson and Juli Pierce shined defensively for the Hoosiers, recording seven blocks and 18 digs, respectively.
"I really like what Ashley (Benson) did tonight, especially her blocking," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar. "She really set the tone on the defensive side of the net."
"We have to cut down on the unforced errors, they were the difference tonight," said Dunbar. "If you look at the stat sheet, every other category was even except the errors."
The loss ends a 15-year winning streak for the Hoosiers in their season-opening match, having last lost back in 1992.
Kelsey Hall and Erica Short each posted double-digit kill performances with 10 put-aways apiece. Setting up most of those kills was the Hoosier duo of Mary Chaudoin and Hayley Koetter as Indiana ran a "6-2" offense in the opener. That tandem combined for 33 of IU's 37 assists on the night.
Indiana jumped all over the nationally-ranked 49ers to start the first set, gaining a 12-7 advantage. Short led the way in the early spurt, hammering home three kills on her first three swings of the season. Long Beach did not pack it in, however, instead rattling off eight consecutive points for a 15-12 lead. Indiana was unable to get within the two-point deficit the rest of the way in the 25-19 defeat.
While the first set was filled with runs and huge momentum swings, the second stanza was a back-and-forth see-saw battle. Neither team could gain an edge larger than three points until LBSU went ahead 22-18 late in the set. In the end, it was the 49ers who came out on top, 25-20.
The third set was very similar to set number two with the lead changing hands several times throughout the early goings before a late LBSU surge proved to be the difference in the 25-21 49ers win.
"We were very scrappy tonight in spurts," said Dunbar. "With the new 25-point sets there is little time to make comebacks, so we need to fight the entire time."
The Hoosiers are set for a pair of contests on Saturday. First is a 2 p.m. (eastern time) match with Missouri State, followed by a 8 p.m. showdown against the Dons of San Francisco. All the action can be heard LIVE on IUHoosiers.com, as Matt Taylor will provide the play-by-play commentary for the live audio available via the volleyball schedule page.
Players Mentioned
