2 home losses leave Hoosiers in Big Ten volleyball quicksand

The Hoosiers were supposed to ruffle the Hawkeyes' feathers then give sixth-ranked Minnesota a run for its money last weekend. \nIowa and Minnesota didn't agree. \nEvidently, coach Katie Weismiller's bunch didn't argue its side too well, either.\nFour games into the Big Ten Conference season, IU (10-4 overall) sits at 1-3 in league play -- not too far from the top, but not too far from the bottom. The catch is that defending conference and NCAA Champion Penn State is also one for its first four. The 2000 Big Ten race defines parity; only Wisconsin and Ohio State remain unbeaten, and five teams, including IU and Penn State, share 1-3 records.\n"We know we let one get away Friday (against Iowa), but by no means are we out of the race," Weismiller said. "We have to take care of business."\nThe Hoosiers didn't do that in a pair of weekend losses, that marked the first time IU has begun its portion of the Big Ten season with back-to-back home losses since 1997. Just two years ago, IU won eight of its 10 home conference contests. Last year, Weismiller and company boasted a 6-4 Big Ten record.\nThe weekend sweep forces IU to pick up a game or two on the road. When the Hoosiers went 8-2 at home in 1998, they also dropped nine of 10 road matches. Last year wasn't much better, with IU going only 4-6 away from Bloomington.\n"We definitely have to win this weekend," senior middle blocker Laura Dewitz said. "But, the Big Ten is so equal this year. We have to be ready every night, and we're ready."\nWeismiller said she isn't afraid that her young squad will crumble under early season pressure, but instead said she thinks it will boost IU back into the title-contending picture. IU hits the road for four of its next six matches, including visits to Penn State and Ohio State on back-to-back nights. If anything is to be gained in the contests with the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes, IU will have to fend off Michigan and Michigan State this weekend.\nThe IU volleyball annals indicate that IU will either run off a sweep or be swept; streaks are nothing new to the Hoosiers and Weismiller. Since her arrival in 1993, Weismiller-coached Hoosier squads have slouched into 12 different slumps of three or more consecutive Big Ten defeats. Weismiller's rebuttal is five strings of three or more league wins since '93. A loss in Friday's match in Ann Arbor would be IU's third consecutive loss.\n"We'll do anything to win," sophomore setter Laurie Gardner said. "We lost two at home early, but we have time to make it up. Anything can beat anybody on any night in this league"