Hoosiers set back by Ohio State, Penn State

Home court did not have its advantage for the IU women's volleyball team this weekend as the Hoosiers fell to Penn State, 3-0, and Ohio State, 3-1. Although the Hoosiers fell to the two Big Ten foes, coach Katie Weismiller said there were positives her team could take away from the losses.\n"Hopefully, that is something we can take and be able to duplicate," Weismiller said. "Our passing was good tonight, we just could not terminate. I will take this lineup any day."\nWith a first set burst of energy, IU bolted ahead of Penn State 19-18 to take the lead. The celebration was short-lived, however, as PSU raced to the forefront to finish off the set without giving up another point. After the 30-19, 30-16, 30-13 loss to the Nittany Lions, the Hoosiers' Big Ten record fell to 2-11.\nOffset by Penn State's aggressive offensive front, IU relied heavily upon defense. Sophomore Annie Moddrell led the way with three blocks followed by the trio of senior Mandy Eberle, sophomore Gabrielle Allison and sophomore Lauren Ditteon, each with two. Senior Rachel Gerling led the way offensively with 12 kills, and junior Sara Diehl made 11 digs for the squad. \n"(Penn State has) the chance to be national champions," Weismiller said. "We have a young team and need to learn from this match. We competed and the scores are not indicative of the effort we gave." \nOn Saturday, IU managed to steal one set from Ohio State before falling to the Buckeyes 3-1. \nOhio State took the lead early in the first set, 14-13 over IU. The Hoosiers remained in pursuit of the Buckeyes as the gap was narrowed to 27-22 before OSU closed the match, 30-23. IU could not keep the momentum going in the second set as the Buckeyes pulled away with a 30-17 win.\nIn the third set, the Hoosiers grabbed the lead early and held it until the Buckeyes came back to even the score at 29-29. Despite the charge, Ohio State was unable to break IU's barrier as the Hoosiers won 31-29. \nAfter escaping with the third set, the Hoosiers were unable to keep momentum in the fourth, as the OSU offense sealed the 3-1 victory over IU with a 30-18 win. \n"We were trying to turn the game around and get that momentum," Moddrell said. "It was the difference between a tie game and being down by two."\nWeismiller added that the team was disappointed with the results of the game because it knew it could win more of the matches. \n"It wasn't a lack of concentration," freshman Laura Holm said. "There wasn't enough energy tonight."\nIU will face the Wolverines at 7 p.m. Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., a match that will be televised by Comcast Sports Net. The Hoosiers will head to East Lansing, Mich., to play Michigan State at 7 p.m. the following night.