Hoosiers drop final 2 matches of season

Despite the record setting play of two departing seniors, the IU women's volleyball team dropped its last two matches of the season this weekend.\nFriday, the team started the weekend by losing a heartbreaker to Northwestern 3-2. \nThe match was close throughout, featuring 39 ties and 19 lead changes.\nIU won the first game, 31-29, but dropped the second, 30-25. The Hoosiers then bounced back to take a 2-1 lead by winning game three, 30-26.\nDespite falling behind early, the Wildcats would rally behind Lindsay Anderson, one of two Wildcats with 20-plus kills to win the final two games, 30-24 and 16-14. \nEven though the loss was devastating for the Hoosiers, the match was historical for IU senior Christina Archibald. Archibald became only the fourth Hoosier in history to post 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.\nFreshman Juli Pierce led the defense with 20 saves while senior Katie Pollom and sophomore Tasha Arsenych each recorded seven blocks for the Hoosiers.\nSaturday, it was much of the same for IU as they lost 3-1 to a tough Wisconsin team.\nAfter dropping the first two games, 30-26, the Hoosiers bounced back in the third and won, 30-27.\nBut the Badgers were just too tough, finishing IU in the next game, 30-27.\nThe stat line for the Hoosier seniors, Archibald and Pollom, showed the two were not going to lose their last match in Bloomington without a fight.\nPollom recorded 24 kills while Archibald followed with a double-double, recording 20 kills and a career-high 21 digs. Pierce also added 21 digs of her own.\nIn addition, Pollom became the fifth Hoosier to finish a season hitting above .300 with a .306 percentage.\nThe play of Pollom and Archibald will be missed next season as a young Hoosier team will look to improve on this year's 8-23 record. \nFor the second consecutive season, IU will fail to qualify for the NCAA tournament. \nThe last time the team qualified, in 2002, they lost to Texas in the first round, 3-2.