Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Disposes of Cal.-State Fullerton
9/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
September 7, 2002
Bloomington, Ind. - Still stinging after yesterday's 3-2 loss to Dayton yet on the mend after this afternoon's 3-0 victory over Evansville, Indiana looked to earn its second victory of the day when it took on Cal. State-Fullerton in the final match of the TIS/Taylor Imprinted Sportswear Classic. Despite stifling temperatures in the University Gymnasium, which is affectionately becoming known as "The Inferno" or "The Hot Box", Indiana jumped to an early lead in all three games and never looked back, defeating the Titans 31-29, 30-24, 30-26 to improve its record to 5-1 on the young season."Offensively, we are hitting on all cylinders, especially when we are passing well," said head coach Katie Weismiller. "We need to block more ball but we do have the physical tools to do so if we improve our mental approach in that area."
The first game between the host Hoosiers and Cal. State-Fullerton may have been the most exciting of the young season for the Hoosiers. Indiana quickly jumped to a 10-4 lead, playing some of its finest volleyball of the campaign as three different Hoosiers recorded kills early on in the match. Indiana looked to extend its lead midway through the stanza but the Titans stayed on the tail of the Hoosiers throughout the first game. Leading 15-12, sophomore Christina Archibald (Belleville, Ill./West), who was named to the all-tournament team, and junior Academic All-America candidate Melissa Brewer (Bloomington, Ind./North) recorded kills, which were followed by back-to-back knockdowns by sophomore captain Katie Pollom (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), extending the IU lead to 19-13.
Indiana held on to a five- of six-point lead throughout much of the remainder of the first game until the Hoosiers tried to close out the stanza, only to learn that the Titans wouldn't be disposed of easily. Cal. State Fullerton pulled to within one point of the lead, 25-24, on a kill by freshman Alyssa Opeka and tied the game, 29-29, on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Lauren Goins. Yet, Archibald answered with back-to-back kills off of sets by sophomore Victoria Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) that gave IU the 31-29 victory. Zimmerman recorded a game-high 45 assists.
After a hard fought, fast-charging first game, one might have expected a letdown by one of the two teams in game two but none ensued. While that stanza lacked the intensity of game one, it was a nip and tuck affair throughout much of the game before IU pulled away for a 30-24 victory. The Indiana service game was tremendous throughout as Pollom recorded two aces to go along with one by junior Nikki Hill (Muncie, Ind./Central). Through two games, the Hoosiers had recorded eight aces, including two each by Pollom, Archibald, Zimmerman and Hill. Indiana also limited the Titans to a .087 hitting percentage in the second game.
The third game saw Indiana again jump to a comfortable lead only to see the Hoosiers hold off the hard-charging Titans, 30-26.
"What we did better tonight was say, `Let's just go for the next point and not focus on what just happened,'" said Weismiller.
Added Brewer, "I think our effort has really improved. We are diving for balls even when we might not even have a legitimate chance to reach them. Our goal is to come and play to our potential and for the most part we did that tonight."
Named to the All-Tournament team were:
Dayton junior outside hitter Erin Treadway (MVP)
Dayton senior middle blocker Susan Westbrock
Indiana sophomore outside hitter Christina Archibald
Indiana sophomore middle blocker Katie Pollom
Cal. State-Fullerton senior setter Kim Levey
Cal. State-Fullerton sophomore Lauren Goins
Players Mentioned
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