Longhorns end Hoosiers' season 3-2

After just making the NCAA tournament as the eighth team invited from the Big Ten, the Hoosiers just missed moving onto the second round, as the Texas Longhorns eliminated IU 3-2 in the first round in Tucson, Ariz. Thursday night.\nIn game one, Texas jumped out to an early 9-5 lead on a kill by sophomore middle blocker Kathy Hahn. IU would cut the Longhorn lead to two points 13-11 on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Christina Archibald. Texas then grabbed six of the next eight points to extend their lead to 19-13. IU struggled to sustain a legitimate comeback and faltered in game one, 30-22. IU finished with five service errors, while junior middle blocker Melissa Brewer recorded four kills in game one.\nIU came out firing in game two by grabbing an early 5-1 lead. IU and Texas would go back and forth and eventually tie at 15-15 on a Hahn kill for the Longhorns. An Archibald service ace knotted the score at 25-25 and eventually the game would be tied at 30-30. After IU fought several Texas game points, the Hoosiers would win game two in extra sets, 38-36. \nGame three was a carbon copy of game one, as Texas jumped out to a large early lead and would cruise the rest of the way and win by the final score of 30-17. Texas out hit IU in game three .464 to .114. \nGame four followed the pattern of game two, as the Hoosiers grabbed an early 11-9 lead on a kill by junior Monique Pritz. Texas and IU would trade a couple points, but IU opened up a 14-10 lead on a Texas service error. A couple more Brewer kills helped IU hold off the Longhorns for a 30-24 victory in game four. \nThe decisive game five saw Texas jump out to a 9-6 lead on a service ace. IU would fail to mount a strong comeback and lose game the final game by the score of 15-10 and the match 3-2. \nThe loss ends the Hoosiers' season with a record of 20-13.