Volleyball team splits matches

The volleyball team made a strong showing this weekend, hoping to gain a bid for the NCAA tournament by beating Northwestern in three games and taking No. 4 Wisconsin to four games. The Hoosiers defeated the Wildcats 15-12, 15-6, 15-7 Saturday night after losing to the Badgers 11-15, 15-11, 1-15, 8-15 Friday.\nIU (15-11, 6-10 Big Ten) started out strong in the match against Wisconsin, who shares a tie for first place in the Big Ten with Minnesota. The Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead in the first game, but the Badgers managed to catch up on a strong offensive attack led by the team of freshman middle blocker Claudia Rodriguez and junior middle blocker Sherisa Livingston.\n"In game one, we had the opportunity to push them, and I think we did that," coach Katie Weismiller said. "In the second game, Wisconsin jumped with the early lead, yet we hung in there and came back. I really think that this team is just beginning to realize how good we can be."\nThe Hoosiers were down 0-6 at the beginning of the second game, but because of errors on the Badgers and a strong offensive attack from IU, the Hoosiers were able to gain momentum and take the lead at 9-8. The Badgers didn't recover from the errors, and two blocks on Livingston by freshman middle blocker Melissa Brewer and senior outside hitter Amanda Welter sealed the victory for IU.\n"When I was a young player, I was always in awe of Livingston," Brewer said. "What I wanted to do tonight was play with her. I felt that we did that, and in doing so, raised our level of play."\nBut the break between the second and third match cut short the intensity the Hoosiers had in the second game. A double block from Welter and freshman outside hitter Monique Pritz on the first play of the game was the only time the Hoosiers would score. The Hoosiers rebounded in the fourth game, but fell behind early and we unable to catch up.\nThe Hoosiers were led offensively by Welter, who had 14 kills and Brewer who tallied 13 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore setter Laurie Gardner had 46 assists and seven kills.\n"We felt that we had an opportunity to defeat Wisconsin and it just didn't fall," Weismiller said. "Serve errors really hurt us in games three and four, but our passing and defense was strong and that carried our momentum. The one thing that we gained from challenging them the way we did was that we gained confidence heading into our next matches."\nThe Hoosiers took that confidence and put it into action against the Wildcats. The pace of the game was much slower than the the match against Northwestern. It took an hour and a half for IU to win three games.\nBig plays came from IU's freshmen. Eleven of the 15 points scored in the second game were points by Brewer and freshman outside hitter Nicole Hill. Brewer tied with Hill in leading the team with 12 kills, and contributed 11 digs. Hill also had two service aces.\nThe team is back in action again Wednesday night against No.13 Ohio State.\n"We have to take care of (the rest of our opponents)," Welter said. "All of our conference games are important if we are to have a chance to move to post-season play. We need to get in and get out"