Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Illinois
Illinois Downs Hoosiers, 3-1
10/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 27, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Four different Hoosiers tallied double-digit kills in Saturday night's match versus Illinois. The Fighting Illini came out on top, however, winning 3-1 (30-26, 30-26, 26-30, 30-27). Junior Erica Short paced Indiana with 17 kills on the night. Freshman Taylor Wittmer excelled defensively, racking up eight blocks (one solo).
"It's tough anytime you get down 0-2, and all weekend we put ourselves in a really uncomfortable situation where we had to fight back all the time," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar. "If you have to do that (comeback) consistently in the Big Ten, it's tough because all the teams are so good."
Short opened the match with back-to-back kills for the first two points of the contest. Senior Lauren Ditteon then created a 3-0 lead with a kill of her own. Illinois took six of the next seven points though, jumping ahead 6-4. Despite recording 17 kills, Indiana could not keep up with the Fighting Illini's .415 hitting pace in the 30-26 game one loss.
Sophomore Kelsey Hall stepped up in game two, delivering five kills on 10 swings with no errors. Game two was a see-saw battle, evidenced by seven lead changes in the second stanza alone. The game sat at a 26-26 stalemate before Illinois notched four straight points to take another 30-26 win.
"I think Kelsey (Hall) has consistently improved," said Dunbar. "Overall, I am very pleased with her play, but I know she can really improve on her game from here on out."
"We have to learn to keep our composure a little better and finish games," said Dunbar. "When it got to 25-25, 26-26, we just got tense."
Indiana flipped the table in game three, breaking a 26-26 tie by grabbing four consecutive points for another 30-26 final score, this time in favor of the Cream and Crimson. The Hoosiers limited Illinois to a .163 hitting efficiency while hitting .220 themselves.
The Hoosiers jumped all over Illinois in the early goings of game four, grabbing a 9-2 lead. Unfortunately, the lead slowly diminished, and Illinois eventually took a lead at 26-25. Ditteon kept the Hoosiers alive with a kill at the 29-27 mark, but the next point went to the Fighting Illinois for a 30-27 victory.
The Cream and Crimson hit the road next weekend, traveling to Ohio State for a Friday night match before venturing to #2 Penn State on Saturday.
"We have to work on the bad things from this weekend," said Dunbar. "This week of practice is going to be very important. It's tough to go on the road, but I know that we are going to be fired up, be really prepared."
Players Mentioned
