Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Sweep No. 18 Minnesota
9/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Bloomington, Ind. - Riding the momentum of its IU Credit Union Invitational championship, the Indiana volleyball team swept No. 18 Minnesota 30-22, 30-25, 34-32 in its Big Ten opener at University Gym. The Hoosiers improve to 8-4 on the season after knocking off the Golden Gophers (7-6) for the first time in their last seven attempts and defeating a ranked team for the first time this season.
In its strongest performance of the season, IU was dominant on both the offensive and defensive side of the net. The Hoosier hit .314 in the match, including hitting at least .300 in all three games, the first time this season Indiana accomplished this feat.
Defensively, the Hoosiers held Minnesota to a .179 hitting percentage, racking up nine total blocks and 35 digs in the match.
"The game tonight could probably be summed up in one word, great," said head coach Katie Weismiller. "That is a great team. It is a very good and well-coached team. We have really been working on getting better and better. I thought our team really came out ready to play tonight. They did a great job from all aspects. We beat a really good team and that is why it feels so good."
Senior Monique Pritz (Columbus, Ind./East) led the way for IU with a career-high .889 hitting percentage and eight kills on nine attempts. Junior Katie Pollom (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) and junior Christina Archibald (Belleville, Ill./West) added 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while sophomore Ashley White (St. Charles, Ill./East) terminated nine kills and senior Melissa Brewer (Bloomington, Ind./North) finished with eight kills.
"I was just going up to terminate," said Pritz. "Victoria (Zimmerman) did a great job of getting one-on-ones for everyone. I was just trying to put the ball away."
On the defensive end, Pollom led the Hoosiers with two block solos with Archibald adding five block assists and Brewer contributing four block assists. Freshman Lindsay Cochrane (Geneva, Ill/Geneva) compiled 10 digs, her second match of 10 or more digs this season.
"I think we did a really nice job lining up on them (Minnesota) and seeing their hitters," said Pritz. "If they hit into us, then we took care of it, but I think we did a good job of seeing them and lining up to stop them."
IU set the tone for the match in the opening game, blasting out to a 13-4 behind three Archibald kills and three blocks shared by Pollom, Archibald and Brewer. The Hoosiers never trailed the rest of the way, maintaining their lead and winning game one, 30-22.
Archibald finished with four kills and Pollom picked up her two block solos in the game.
Game two was a carbon copy of the opener, with Indiana jumping out to an 11-5 lead. The Gophers mounted a rally, cutting the Hoosier lead to 21-20, but Archibald and Pritz delivered two big kills, extending the IU lead to 25-22, and the Hoosiers scored five of the final eight points, with junior Victoria Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) ending the game with her first kill of the evening, giving Indiana the 30-25 victory.
Pritz finished with a game-high four kills, increasing her total in two games to seven kills on seven attempts.
Minnesota rallied in the third game, taking its first lead of the match at 4-3 before IU recaptured the lead at 10-8. The teams battled back-and-forth until the Hoosiers took what seemed to be an insurmountable 22-16 lead. However, the Gophers rallied, closing the gap to 27-25.
Again, Indiana halted the Gopher run, scoring two of the next three points for a 29-26 lead. With the Hoosiers serving on match point, Minnesota responded once again, using a 3-0 run to continue the game and the match. The teams split the next six points when a Gopher error coupled with Brewer's final kill of the night ended the match and gave Indiana its biggest win of the season.
"We were fired up," said Weismiller. "It was Minnesota. The Big Ten is tough, and we felt we needed to gain some respect going into the Big Ten season. It was time to put it all together. From the very beginning, you could tell this team was ready to play tonight. It does help when it is Minnesota, it is the defending champion, and it has been a while since we beat them. This senior class really wanted it, and I think they showed great leadership."
The Hoosiers now ride a four-game winning streak into Saturday's Big Ten match against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. at University Gym.
