Volleyball: Hoosiers end 7-game losing streak

The IU volleyball team snapped a seven-match losing streak with a five-game victory against Illinois Saturday after failing to regain the Monon Spike -- the traveling trophy between the two teams -- against No. 17 Purdue Friday at University Gym. \nSplitting the matches this weekend moved IU's record to 9-13 overall and 2-8 in Big Ten play. \nIU snapped its losing streak by defeating Illinois (30-22, 24-30, 30-22, 26-30, 15-12) for the first time since 2002.\n"It's huge what happened to us tonight," IU head coach Katie Weismiller said. "It got us over the hump, and tonight we stayed on top of it."\nIU and Illinois traded blows in the first four games of the match, going back and forth. IU won the first and third games, while dropping the second and fourth games to force a decisive fifth game. \nBehind defensive specialist Sara Diehl and her match-high 19 digs, IU took the fifth game to improve to 3-0 in five-game matches this season. \n"We wanted to win badly and we needed it," Diehl said. "I played hard to get all the shots in the right spot."\nThe Hoosiers were held below a .100 hitting percentage in both of the games they lost but hit above .260 in the three games they won. The defense also came together in the three games IU won, holding Illinois below a .125 hitting percentage in all three.\nOn Friday, IU played host to the Purdue Boilermakers in front of 1,265 fans, the second largest crowd in University Gym history, in hopes of regaining the Monon Spike. \n"It was loud, it was so loud in that gym tonight," Weismiller said. "It was a fun place to be; there was so much energy."\nDespite the energy from the crowd, IU was unable to come up with a win against the Boilermakers, losing the match 0-3 (29-31, 20-30, 19-30).\nThe first game, which featured 17 ties and eight lead changes, saw IU hit .237 compared to Purdue's .196 hitting percentage. However, the Hoosiers were unable to sustain their momentum and eventually dropped what turned out to be the closest game of the match.\nIn the second game, the Purdue offense took advantage of the IU defense, compiling a .412 hitting percentage. The Boilermakers never surrendered the lead on their way to a ten-point win. \nHalfway through the second game, IU football coach Terry Hoeppner and his football team spiked the attendance and breathed new life into the crowd when they arrived and took seats in the bleachers to watch the remainder of the match.\n"The football team coming out to support, you know it was loud," Weismiller said.\nIU was unable to ride the energy the crowd provided in the third game of the match, losing 19-30 after Purdue closed the game out on an 8-0 run. Purdue held the Hoosiers to a -.023 hitting percentage in the final game.