Team sweeps tournament

The women\'s volleyball teams began the 2002 season with a perfect record by winning all three matches in the Northern Illinois Best Western Invitational. IU defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies Saturday to sweep the tournament.\n"I think the biggest plus (Saturday) was that we pushed through," Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller said in a press release. "Offensively, our team has been on all weekend. Victoria's (Zimmerman) done a nice job running the offense and our passing has been very, very, good."\nDrake University, Indiana\'s first opponent, was handily defeated 3-0. The first game began with the Hoosiers bolting out to a 15-10 lead, leading to a Drake run that tied the game at 16 apiece. IU then took control of the game and won 30-23. The second game of the match had the IU team easily defeating Drake 30-16. The final game of the match was more of a fight that involved 16 ties and a late 26-22 Drake lead before the Hoosiers fought back to a close 34-32 victory. \nJunior Melissa Brewer led the Hoosiers with 13 kills and senior Hillary Toivonen posted 7 digs.\nThe second match of the tournament had the Hoosiers meeting the IUPUI Jaguars, again defeating their opponent 3-0. The Hoosiers posted impressive numbers including a .875 hitting percentage and no attack errors. The first game of the tournament saw the Hoosiers keeping the Jaguars at distance the entire game to a final score of 30-20. The second game was much closer as both teams fought through ties between 9-9 and 18-18. The game stayed close right up to the end with Indiana defeating IUPUI 30-28.\nThe third game was a lopsided Indiana victory that involved a 22-8 lead and a final score of 30-14. Sophomore Victoria Zimmerman ended the match with 42 assists and Brewer and sophomore Katie Pollom tied with 14 kills.\nThe final match pitted the Hoosiers against the host Northern Illinois Huskies. After losing its first game of the tournament, IU then responded with three consecutive victories snapping the Huskies 16-game home winning streak. The second game was another close battle that had Northern Illinois pulling within two points at 22-20. The Hoosiers then overtook their opponents to win the second game 30-26.\nThe final game of the tournament had the Hoosiers bolting out to a 11-7 lead, only to have the Huskies retaliate to a 18-14 lead. Indiana immediately answered, overtaking NIU at 20-19 and never looking back, winning the game 30-23. Sophomore Christina Archibald finished the match with 23 kills.\nBrewer said the entire Hoosier squad turned in an impressive performance.\n"Anyone on the floor for Indiana could have been the MVP," she said. "Everyone did their job and that's the most important thing. Look at Hillary (Toivonen). She passed nails. Christina (Archibald) did great. It's just amazing to see everybody gel out there."\nThe Hoosiers next compete at home Friday in the Taylor/TIS Tournament. The competition begins at 7 p.m.