Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Lose to Pittsburgh
9/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
September 18, 2004
BOX SCORE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In the final match of the TIS Bookstore Invitational, the Indiana women's volleyball team dropped its second match of the day when it fell to the Pittsburgh Panthers, 3-2 in a grueling five-set match, 21-30, 30-27, 30-24, 18-30, 15-7.
The Hoosiers slip to 6-5 on the year, while Pittsburgh, the tournament champion, improves to 7-3.
Indiana gave a gutsy performance to get to the fifth match, but could not come out on top. The Panthers took an early lead, scoring three of the first four points, to hold a 3-1 edge over the Hoosiers. IU would rally to cut the lead to one, 6-5, but a Pittsburgh spurt gave the Panthers a controlling 12-6 advantage. IU would eventually fall in the match, 15-7.
"Tonight was hard from the standpoint of confidence," said head coach Katie Weismiller. "At times we looked so good, but we really have to work on our consistency. We also have to work on executing from the very beginning and continuing all the way through."
The Hoosiers started the night off on the right foot by capturing game one, 30-21. Indiana would string together an early 9-1 run, to go up 11-5 over the Panthers. Senior Katie Pollom got things started in the run with a service ace, and Christina Archibald, who set the new IU all-time kills record in the Hoosiers' match earlier with Kent State, and Mandy Eberle would follow and help the cause with two kills and two blocks, respectively. The Hoosiers would continue to roll and from this point on, never looked back as they dominated the rest of the match. Indiana gained its largest lead of the game when it went up by eight, 25-17. The Panthers would attempt to fight back, and cut IU's lead down to five, 26-21, but the Hoosiers held on and with a pair of kills from Archibald and one from sophomore Tasha Arsenych, would seal the Indiana win.
The Panthers set the pace quickly in the second set as they jumped out to a 13-4 lead. Indiana struggled to find its offensive rhythm for the next few points, and found itself down by as much as 11 when Pitt went up 20-9. It appeared as if the Blue and Gold would carry the rest of the weight easily until the end of the set, but the Hoosiers made an impressive comeback, going on a 5-0 run and slicing the Panther's lead to one, 27-26. Back-to-back kills from Megan Miller and Gini Ullery, would give Pitt a 29-27 edge, the Hoosiers earned one more point on a ball handling error, but Miller would answer again and put an end to the second set, 30-27.
Tied at one game a piece, Pittsburgh got on the board first in game three and applied pressure, never allowing the Hoosiers to take the lead and eventually going on to win 30-24. With the Panthers up 10-7, the Cream and Crimson would come within one on four different occasions, but could never grasp the lead. Despite dropping the third set, freshmen Lauren Ditteon and Christine Nilles played well, combining for eight kills.
The Hoosiers kept their poise in the fourth set and refused to give up. When the Hoosiers went up 10-6, there was no looking back, as the remainder of the game rested in the hands of Indiana. Behind the strong play of Pollom and Archibald, Indiana cruised to a 21-14 advantage and then used a 9-4 run to close out the set, 30-18.
Pollom, the only Hoosier named to the TIS Bookstore Invitational All-Tournament team, recorded a team-high 16 kills to go along with three blocks on the night. Archibald pitched in with 15 kills of her own, while Nilles tied her career-high 11 kills.
"One of the most important things for us right now is just to believe how good we are," said Pollom. "There are periods in the game where we play exceptionally well. We just have to keep that consistency going."
Indiana will be back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 22, when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., for its Big Ten opener against the Purdue Boilermakers. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be played at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility.
TIS Bookstore Invitational All-Tournament Team:
Erin Heffner (Alabama)
Megan McGrane (Pittsburgh)
Gini Ullery (Pittsburgh)
Katie Pollom (Indiana)
Anne Zakelj (Kent State)
MVP: Megan Miller (Pittsburgh)
