Hoosiers take 3-game winning streak into Michigan matchups

The Hoosiers are riding a three-game winning streak heading into Big Ten play, but IU coach Katie Weismiller knows battles in hostile environments await her team this weekend. \nThe IU women's volleyball team will head north this weekend as it starts the Big Ten season against No. 19 Michigan and Michigan State.\n"Michigan and Michigan State are great places to play -- they are loud and crazy," Weismiller said. "We need to go out and stay focused."\nThe team hopes to build on the momentum from its victory last weekend at the IU Credit Union Invitational in Bloomington.\n"I think the wins gave us a lot of confidence," junior Lauren Ditteon said, "and going into the Big Ten, we need to feed off of it."\nThe Hoosiers will travel Friday to the Land of the Lakes to take on Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., and will head over to East Lansing, Mich., to compete against Michigan State at 7 p.m. Saturday night.\nThe team will be concerned with more than just keeping their minds off the rowdy Wolverine and Spartan crowds. IU will focus on the specific strengths of Michigan and Michigan State and try to offset those strengths with counter-tactics of its own.\n"We are trying to focus on blocking the outside," Ditteon said. "Michigan has a good outside, so it will be a key to success."\nDitteon also said to win this weekend, there must be solid performances from the offense and defense and few mistakes.\n"If our offense is strong, we don't have a bunch of unforced errors and the defense is strong, we should win," Ditteon said.\nA factor independent of volleyball that could have an effect on the Hoosiers' play in this weekend's match is fatigue from traveling. IU will travel about 388 miles from Bloomington to Ann Arbor and then East Lansing. The Hoosiers insist the preseason has prepared them well for these types of road trips.\n"The preseason tournaments test our energy more than traveling," Ditteon said.\nFor other Hoosiers, road trips are a way to simply have a good time in a setting other than IU.\n"The buses and the planes are fun," senior Anne Grabow said. "It's a lot of fun to be away from school"