Team outdone by ranked Illini in straight sets

Hoping to bounce back from a tough loss against Purdue last week, the IU women's volleyball team played host to Illinois Friday night at University Gymnasium.\nThe Hoosiers fell behind quickly against the Illini and never bounced back, losing in straight sets, 20-30, 18-30, 22-30. IU came out looking tired after the emotionally draining five-set loss to the Boilermakers Wednesday.\n"We just came out flat tonight," IU coach Katie Weismiller said. "They made mistakes, but we were not able to get into the match."\nIn the first game of the match, the Hoosiers took control early, but Illinois charged back and began pulling away. Before IU could regroup, the score was already 21-14.\nAfter a Hoosier timeout failed to weather the storm, the Illini continued their offensive attack, making the score 29-15. With the Illinois fans on their feet, IU tried to get back into the game behind the service efforts of freshman Christine Nilles. The Hoosiers scored five straight points to pull them within nine points, but that was as close as they got.\n"That run helped build our momentum. We want to come out earlier with those runs," senior Katie Pollom said.\nThe second game started with IU holding tough with the No. 25 Illini. Each team exchanged points early, tying the score at 5. The momentum the Hoosiers had gained in the first game quickly disappeared.\nIllinois went on a 10-4 run that put the Hoosiers away. IU made several mini-runs to try and catch up, but it was not enough. The Illini won easily 30-18. \nThe IU struggles continued into the third game with Illinois jumping out to an 11-3 advantage. The visiting team didn't make an error until its 12th point of the game as the huge deficit was too much for IU to overcome.\nOnce again, IU charged back into the game with a flurry of points, but it was too little too late as Illinois won, 30-22.\nThe loss dropped the Hoosiers to 8-19 on the season and 2-14 in conference play. IU finished its longest home stand of the season at 0-4. \nPollom led the Hoosiers with 14 kills and a .500 hitting percentage in one of her last home matches at University Gymnasium.\nPollom received support from fellow senior Christina Archibald (12 kills) and freshman Lauren Ditteon (7 kills) Friday night.\n"We came out with a lot of fire Wednesday against Purdue. We wanted to come back strong tonight, but that fire didn't carry over for us," Ditteon said.\n-- Contact staff writer Tim O'Brien at tpobrien@indiana.edu.