Hoosiers continue to struggle against Big Ten

The IU volleyball team's struggles in Big Ten play continued this weekend as it lost a pair of matches, one against No. 9 Minnesota and the other against unranked Iowa (30-20, 20-30, 20-30, 27-30), dropping it to 1-5 in conference play and 8-10 overall.\nThe weekend started when the Hoosiers faced off against Minnesota, the second-best defensive team in the country. Minnesota came into the match ranked second in the nation in opposing hitting percentage, holding opponents to a .098 hitting percentage, and preventing opposing teams from hitting more than .200 in the season. \nDespite the imposing defense, IU managed to hit at a .175 clip in the first game. Minnesota managed a .366 hitting percentage of its own, however, and never surrendered the lead to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.\nThe highest contested game of the match was game two, which featured 19 ties and 10 lead changes, only to find IU on the losing end again. The game was back and forth and IU held the lead at 26-24, only to see the Golden Gophers go on a 6-0 run to take the game 30-26. \nThe final game of the match featured nine ties, three lead changes and a temporary power outage, which stopped play with IU ahead 10-8. From there, the teams went back and forth, but IU was not able to fend off the Gopher attack, eventually dropping the game and the match (23-30, 26-30, 24-30).\n"Minnesota is good, their blocking was good," IU head coach Katie Weismiller said. "It's frustrating afterwards, we absolutely competed, this was a tough one."\nDespite the loss, Weismiller was pleased with the offense, considering the tough defense they were up against.\nTo close the weekend, IU squared off with Iowa, who entered the match with the same conference record as the Hoosiers at 1-4. Iowa was coming off a 3-0 loss to Minnesota of its own and had dropped three straight matches. \nIU jumped to a 1-0 lead in the match by holding the Hawkeyes to a .020 hitting percentage in the first game behind junior defensive specialist Sara Diehl, who went on to record a career-high 18 digs in the match. \nStarting in the second game, however, the IU offense faltered and dropped the next three games in a row. Iowa hit at a .476 clip in the second game to put the Hoosiers away.\n"Offensively we were okay in game one," Weismiller said. "Our passing wasn't as strong as it has been."\nThe IU offense struggled mightily in game three, where it managed only a .043 hitting percentage and never held the lead, only to tie it once before losing 20-30. The IU offensive attack was hindered by a lack of crisp passing throughout the match. \n"Sometimes one person will let a mistake get in their own head and it kind of snowballs," Diehl said. "Anyone can pass at this level, it was just a mental thing." \nThe Hoosiers mustered up some offense in game four and out-hit the Hawkeyes .154 to .119, but were unable to secure the victory, eventually losing the game and the match.\n"We need focus and desire for every point, and we didn't have that tonight," freshman setter Laura Holm said. "That's something we have to change attitude-wise"