Hoosiers Win Valparaiso Popcorn Classic

Saturday, September 8

Valparaiso, Ind.

12:00 PM

Indiana University

Western Michigan

Freshman Taylor Wittmer was named tournament MVP.

9/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Sept. 8, 2007

Final Stats

VALPARAISO, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team (7-2) earned a 30-17, 30-22, 26-30, 33-31 win over the Western Michigan Broncos (7-2) Saturday afternoon, winning the '07 Valparaiso Popcorn Classic with three wins in as many matches over the weekend. Freshman Taylor Wittmer and Sophomore Kelsey Hall were named to the all-tournament team, and Wittmer picked up the Most Valuable Player award.

Sophomore Kelsey Hall hit .500 while racking up 17 kills. Seniors Juli Pierce and Lauren Ditteon led the way defensively with 21 digs and eight blocks, respectively. Four different Hoosiers recorded double-digit kills, including Junior

The IU offensive attack was on-point to begin the contest, hitting .412 in the opening game. Senior Lauren Ditteon did it all for the Hoosiers, recording four kills and four blocks in game one alone. Indiana led by as many as 14 points in the first game that eventually ended in a 30-17 win.

Western Michigan was able to regroup during the break and take a 4-1 advantage at the beginning of game two. However, a kill by Wittmer at that point reignited the IU offense. Short, Hall and Freshman Ashley Benson eached recorded five kills in the game with only one error between the three of them. After taking the lead at 9-8, the Cream and Crimson steamrolled the Broncos the rest of the way, winning 30-21. WMU was given little chance to keep the score tight in game two, getting blocked six times by the Hoosiers. Wittmer played a part in five of those blocks.

While the offense kept playing at a high level in game three, the defensive dominance dropped a bit, allowing the Broncos to hit .368 and take a 30-26 win.

Freshman Mara Hilgenberg pushed the Hoosiers to rebound in game four. Hilgenberg ran the offense effectively, piling up 19 assists. Short and Hall were on the finishing end of many of those sets, connecting on seven and six kills, respectively. Western Michigan fended off several match points before back-to-back kills by Short ended the game and match at 33-31.

The Hoosiers now must prepare for their first home contest of the season. Indiana welcomes East Tennessee State, North Carolina Central and St. John's to Assembly Hall on Friday Sept. 14 and Saturday Sept. 15 for the IU adidas Classic. Live stats will be available for all home matches via GameTracker, right here at iuhoosiers.com.