Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
St. John's
St. John's Tops Hoosiers
9/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team went toe-to-toe with #23/#22 St. John's Saturday night in the championship match of the IU adidas Classic before eventually falling (30-27, 30-26, 30-24) against the nationally-ranked opponent.
"That's a really experienced team (St. John's) and one that knows how to win," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar.
Sophomore Ashley Benson, an all-tournament selection, loaded up 11 kills and three blocks in the match. Freshman Mara Hilgenberg, who joined Benson on the all-tournament squad, totaled 35 assists versus the Red Storm.
Game one began with Indiana struggling at 4-10, before they surged back to tie the score at 20-20. St. John's was forced to take a timeout at that point, but responded by reclaiming the lead at 27-24, making Indiana also burn a timeout. The Hoosiers took the first two points after the break in action to narrow the gap to one point at 26-27. Unfortunately, the Red Storm answered by earning three of the next four points for the 30-27 win.
It was all Indiana Hoosiers to begin game two as they surged to an 11-4 advantage. After a kill by the Red Storm's Latoya Blunt, Lena Yee got on a roll and served nine straight points to give St. John's a 13-11 edge. The Cream and Crimson re-grouped from there and remained close the rest of the way, thanks in part to five team blocks. But in the end, St. John's sneaked away with a 30-26 win.
"We really concentrated on pursuit balls and blocking last week," said Dunbar. "And I am happy because we blocked much better than we have the rest of the season and we did a good job pursuing defensive balls."
It would be nearly impossible to see a tighter game than game three in the early goings. The first three-point lead did not come until the 15-18 mark. Senior Lauren Ditteon recorded four of her 12 total kills in game four while committing no attack errors. The St. John's offense heated up at the right moment, however, and downed the Hoosiers 30-24.
"I was proud of them for fighting and competing, but the things we need to work on are composure and energy level," said Dunbar. "No matter what happens on the other side of the net, we have to control what's going on our side of the net."
The Hoosiers finish the non-conference slate with a 9-3 overall record and begin Big Ten action next weekend. First, is a trip to Iowa on Friday night, before taking on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota next Sunday.
Players Mentioned
