Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Minnesota
Gophers Get by Indiana, 3-0
11/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team hit at a .246 pace Friday night in their match versus Minnesota, but eventually lost 30-22, 30-28, 30-28 as the Golden Gophers hit a .300 efficiency.
Senior libero Juli Pierce played well, racking up 14 digs on the night. Freshman Ashley Benson was effective on both sides of the net, hitting .350 with eight kills and three block assists.
Benson began the match by connecting on four kills on seven errorless attacks in game one. Also, Freshman Mara Hilgenberg tallied an impressive 16 assists in the opening act. It was not enough, however, as Minnesota's offense was on fire with a .463 hitting percentage in the 30-22 win.
The Hoosiers clawed their way back into game two, cutting the deficit to a lone point at 25-24 off a block by Benson and Senior Lauren Ditteon. A few points later it remained a one-point game at 29-28, thanks in part to kills by Benson and Sophomore Kelsey Hall. Minnesota took a timeout at that point and drew up a play to get the hot hand a set. Brooke Dieter, who had a match-high 23 kills, delivered on the next point for the 30-28 win.
After entering the match in game two and hitting three kills on just four attacks, Senior Annie Moddrell kept it going in game three. The Freebrug, Illinois native piled on five more terminations and a pair of rejections. The third game was back and forth with neither team taking a lead larger than four points the entire way. Trailing 29-27, Benson came up with a clutch kill to keep her team alive at 29-28. The Golden Gophers earned the next point though, taking another 30-28 win.
The Cream and Crimson returns to action Saturday night at 6 PM with a match against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The match was originally scheduled to start one hour later, but has been moved up to 6 PM.
Players Mentioned
