Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Fall to Penn State
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
November 16, 2002
Bloomington, Ind. - If Indiana was to defeat 13th-ranked Penn State for the first time in school history, tonight probably wasn't the best night to pull off such an upset. Reeling from a 3-0 upset loss at Ohio State last evening--the same Buckeye team Indiana came within three match points of defeating just this past Wednesday-- an angry Nittany Lions squad overcame a sluggish start and disposed of the Hoosiers in three games, 30-25, 30-25, 30-25, before 611 spectators at the University Gymnasium.
"We started off strong but we just couldn't finish things," said head coach Katie Weismiller. "We played well early in both the first and second games but we let them have a number of runs. After playing with such great energy and competitiveness at Ohio State on Wednesday, I didn't feel as if we matched that level of effort this evening."
Indiana (18-10 overall, 8-8 Big Ten) was again led by junior middle blocker Melissa Brewer (Bloomington, Ind./North), an Academic All-America candidate, who recorded a hitting percentage of .400 or greater for the fifth consecutive match. She recorded a team-high .443 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Christina Archibald (Belleville, Ill./West) recorded 18 kills, which led both teams. In doing so, she increased her 2002 kill total to 485, which moved her past Ryann Connors (482 in 1998) into second place on Indiana's single-season list. With eight block assists, sophomore middle blocker Katie Pollom (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) moved into third place on IU's single season list with 113. Penn State (21-6, 11-5) was paced in this evening's match by sophomore Syndie Nadeau, who recorded a team-high 14 kills and a .440 hitting percentage.
For the match, both teams recorded 52 kills but Penn State outhit IU, .288-.183. The Nittany Lions recorded six service aces to the Hoosiers two and also recorded 12 blocks, which was one more than IU's 11.
"We thought this was our year to beat Penn State," said Brewer. "You certainly have to give them great respect. There are so many teams in this league that you have play your best against to defeat and Penn State falls into that group."
Indiana looked as if it might back the reeling Nittany Lions into a corner from the very beginning of the match, taking a 10-4 game one lead on a kill by Archibald. Penn State, however, tied the game, 11-11, in the midst of a 17-7 run that gave the Nittany Lions a 21-17 advantage. Indiana pulled to within 22-20 on a Penn State attack error but PSU closed out the game on an 8-5 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In game two, Indiana led 10-5 but again failed to stem the tide of an 8-3 run that tied the game at 13-13. Penn State scored the game's next three points to extend its lead to 16-13, only to see Indiana produce a mini-rally of its own that tied the game at 19-19 on a kill by Pollom. After a Victoria Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) kill tied the game at 21-21, Penn State scored nine of the next 13 points scored between the two teams to win game two, 30-25, and take a commanding lead in the match.
Penn State jumped to an early lead in game three but IU was again in striking distance two-thirds of the way through the game, pulling to within 18-17 on a Penn State attack error. The Nittany Lions were again strong down the stretch, however, winning the third game, 30-25, on a kill by junior Erin Iceman.
Indiana returns to action on Friday, Nov. 22, as it travels to Minnesota to take on the top-10 ranked Golden Gophers. The following night, the Hoosiers will play in Iowa City against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hoosiers will close out the regular season with home matches vs. Purdue and Illinois on Nov. 29 and 30, respectively.
"We need to play each match one at a time," said Pollom. "The NCAA Tournament is still our primary goal and we will probably have to win at least half our matches to earn an invitation. We'll have to treat every opponent with the utmost respect to achieve that goal."
