Hoosiers win 5-set thriller over IPFW

After this weekend's tournament in Arlington, Texas, the IU women's volleyball team returned home to face IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne Tuesday.\nIn a match where neither team was able to get on track, the Hoosiers won in thrilling fashion in five games, 30-32, 30-16, 24-30, 30-22, 15-11. Both the Hoosiers and the Mastodons played inconsistently throughout, with neither team able to put the other away. \n"They were an amazing team. They had a lot of heart to be able to keep fighting back," senior middle blocker Katie Pollom said.\nIn the match's first game, the score bounced back and forth between the Hoosiers and the Mastodons. IU jumped out to an early 8-6 lead powered by Pollom. IPFW fought its way back to tie the score at nine all.\nGame one featured 20 tie scores and 10 lead changes. The score continued to teeter back and forth with Pollom and senior outside hitter Christina Archibald leading the way.\nAfter an IU timeout with the score even at 25, the Mastodons went on a 7-5 run to win the game, 32-30.\nThe Hoosiers regrouped after struggling in the first game to beat IPFW 30-16 in the second game. The Hoosiers came out of the break looking like a new team. With an all-around offensive attack, IU coach Katie Weismiller's squad took an early 11-5 lead.\nWithstanding a late Mastodon comeback, the Hoosiers finished the game with a flurry of points, finishing with a 12-5 run.\nFreshman Christine Nilles finished the Mastodons off with a powerful kill.\nWhile the Hoosiers won the second game convincingly, the third game was a different story. The team seemed to lose the fire they had in the previous game.\nThe Mastodons took an early 9-3 lead before the Hoosiers made a comeback to make the score 11-8. After the early rally, IU was never able to come all the way back, as the Mastodons held them off. IPFW slowly pulled away, capitalizing on several IU unforced errors, winning the game 30-24.\nIn the continuing back-and-forth match, IU won the fourth game 30-22 behind another strong offensive attack. Led by a fired-up Archibald, the Hoosiers never allowed the Mastodons to get in the game. With Archibald and Nilles leading the way early, IU went up 16-9.\nIPFW made the score close several times, but the Hoosiers ultimately controlled the game, winning 30-22 and forcing a fifth game.\nIn game five with the crowd fully behind them, IU came back from an early deficit and won 15-11 to win the game and the match. The Hoosiers were led by Archibald, with 30 kills, while sophomore setter Tasha Arsenych continued her strong play with a new career-high 62 kills. Backing up Archibald was Pollom with 28 kills.\nArchibald and Pollom continue their strong play, as they have led the Hoosiers to a 6-2 record to start the season.\n"We elevate our play and fire up the rest of the team. As seniors, we try to get everybody going. Every single game is important, and we try and communicate that to the team," Pollom said.\nArchibald backed her teammate up.\n"The younger girls look up to us, so we try to set the example for them," Archibald said.\nWeismiller expressed some concern about her team.\n"We're either hot or cold, really good or really bad," Weismiller said. "If we want to do well, we have to limit our unforced errors." \nEven with their inconsistencies, the Hoosiers are still very confident after Tuesday's match.\n"If we're on our game, no one can shut us down," Archibald said.\nThe Hoosiers play this weekend in the T.I.S. Bookstore Invitational.\n-- Contact staff writer Tim O'Brien at tpobrien@indiana.edu.