Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Penn State
#1 Penn State Downs Hoosiers in State College
10/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2009
Final Stats
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Indiana University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision (25-19, 25-13, 25-17) on the road Friday night, taking on two-time defending national champion Penn State. The No. 1 Nittany Lions increased their current winning streak to 85 consecutive matches, suffering their last loss back in 2004.
Indiana senior Kelsey Hall played extremely well, hitting .455 with seven kills in the first two sets. The Murrieta, Calif., native was equally impressive defensively, digging a team-high 12 balls on the night. Caitlin Cox contributed a double-digit dig performance as well. Freshman Samantha Thrower also made a presence on the stat sheet, compiling five kills and two blocks.
The Hoosiers went to toe-to-toe with Penn State for several stretches throughout the match, but could not overcome a few long runs by the Nittany Lions.
One of those stretches included the latter half of the opening set. Trailing 15-7 at the media timeout, Indiana out-scored PSU 12-10 the rest of the way; resulting in a 25-19 final tally. Hall and Thrower ripped four kills apiece in the frame, hitting a combined .400 (8-2-15). As a team, IU tallied 10 digs during the final 22-point stretch.
Things were all-square in set number two at 8-8 following a back-row kill by Hall. Penn State was then able to snag the next six points, however, en route to a 25-13 advantage in the second stanza. Hall was flawless in her attacking, putting away each of her three attempts.
Indiana's best performance arguably came in the third set. The Cream and Crimson hit a solid .206 and dug 15 balls. Ashley Benson and Jordan Haverly began to heat up, hitting .429 (3-0-7) and .300 (4-1-10), respectively. Cox, who introduced the IU starting line-up on the ESPNU pre-match broadcast, paced the Hoosiers defensively with five digs. Despite the improved play, Penn State still came out on top, 25-17, to clinch the match.
The Hoosiers will play their 24th match overall and 10th Big Ten contest Saturday night at 7 p.m., facing the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. As always, a live audio broadcast of the match will be available free of charge at IUHoosiers.com. Dave Leno is set to handle the play-by-play duties while Kyle Kuhlman provides color commentary.
