Win keeps Monon spike

The Hoosiers headed into this weekend against Illinois and Purdue looking to even their Big Ten record, and that they did. IU beat the No. 32 Illinois Fighting Illini and rival Purdue to even their conference record at 4-4.\nThis season IU already has beaten No. 11 Ohio State, No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 30 Louisville. Friday night against the Illini, after losing a controversial game one, IU held on to beat Illinois 31-33, 30-15, 30-24, 24-30, 15-9 before 1,220 at historic Huff Hall. \nThe Hoosiers were led by Senior libero Hillary Toivonen, who recorded a season-high 22 digs, and sophomore setter Victoria Zimmerman, who notched 60 assists. Sophomores Christina Archibald and Katie Pollom and junior Melissa Brewer had 23, 16 and 17 kills, respectively. \nIn game one, IU and Illinois were tied at 29-29 when a point from junior Nikki Hill gave the Hoosiers what looked like a 30-29 lead. But, after a discussion from the referees the call was overturned and the point was awarded to the Illini. Illinois went on to win game one 33-31. \nInstead of quitting after a controversial game one letdown, IU came out firing by opening up a 23-12 lead and eventually holding on for a 30-15 win in game two. IU and Illinois would split games three and four, winning each 30-24. In the deciding fifth game, IU proved to be the stronger team by winning the game 15-9 and the match 3-2.\nSaturday, the Hoosiers showed no letdown by beating the rival Boilermakers, 3-2 (30-23, 31-33, 23-30, 30-16, 15-12).\nBrewer led the charge for the Hoosiers, recording 22 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Zimmerman notched a career-high 73 assists and Pollom, Archibald and Hill tallied 19, 17, and 17 kills, respectively. Joanna Lowry led the way for Purdue with 20 kills.\nIU led throughout game one and won the game by the score of 30-23. Purdue came right back in game two, by winning a tight contest 33-31. The Boilermakers continued their roll by exploding in game three by taking a commanding 27-21 lead. They would eventually hold on to win game three by the final of 30-23. Trailing 2-1 in games, IU did not let Purdue finish them off, as they came out of the blocks strong and never looked back in game four, winning the game 30-16. IU would put the clamps on Purdue in game five by winning the deciding game 15-12 and taking the match 3-2.\nIU sent Purdue to their ninth straight loss and eleventh overall. By beating Purdue, the Hoosiers (14-6, 4-4) captured the Monon spike for the second straight year.