Hoosiers drop away matches vs. No. 1 Penn State, Ohio State

The IU volleyball team (14-12, 5-9) suffered through two road losses this weekend, one against Ohio State and the other at the hands of No. 1 Penn State. Ohio State, a team the Hoosiers defeated earlier in the season in Bloomington, beat IU on Friday in four games (30-26, 30-25, 23-30, 33-31). The Hoosiers were then bested Saturday by the nation’s top team, Penn State, who took the match in three games (30-14, 30-18, 30-23).\nComing off a difficult weekend, coach Sherry Dunbar said she feels the team must focus on giving its best effort at \nevery opportunity.\n“We talked a lot about competing,” she said. “We definitely need to get better.”\nThe Hoosiers faltered early on Friday, dropping the first two games against the Buckeyes. Freshman setter Mara Hilgenberg said IU must work on beginning matches with strong play.\n“We need to come out from the start in games one and two,” she said. “We need to fight for every point.”\nDunbar said she continues to tell the team that the beginning of the match is important, and that it is crucial to come out playing tough from the start.\n“We fought in game three and four, but not as much in game one and two,” she said. “We have to have \nbetter starts.” \nAfter dropping to 0-2 in the match with the Buckeyes, IU battled back in game three. The third game began with a better start for the Hoosiers, as they took a 13-6 lead. Junior outside hitter Erica Short ended the game with a kill to take the game and move the match\nto 2-1.\n“We had to compete,” Short said. “What we did well was playing with enthusiasm.”\nIn game four, Ohio State had match point at 30-29 when freshman middle blocker Ashley Benson delivered a kill to even the score at 30-30. The teams traded points until Ohio State’s freshman middle blocker Kristi Hunter delivered the final kill to take the game 33-31, and the match.\nOn Saturday, the Hoosiers rolled into University Park, Penn., to face No. 1 Penn State, who is undefeated in the \nBig Ten.\nThe Hoosiers put up a total of 55 points over three games, as the Nittany Lions took the match in commanding fashion. \nDunbar said she was pleased with her players when they faced the best team in \nthe nation.\n“It’s hard to match up with Penn State,” she said. “Ashley (Benson) matched up really well, she had a good weekend, and Mara (Hilgenberg) played hard tonight.”\nOn the other hand, Dunbar said she feels the team didn’t play their game enough.\n“We needed to play our game, which is to be really aggressive,” she said. “We didn’t do that. It’s not acceptable when we don’t play our game.”\nThe Hoosiers have now lost five straight matches, and after a tough weekend like this, Short said she feels the team needs to focus on the remainder of the season game by game.\n“We need to take (the season) one game at a time,” she said. “We want to get to the NCAAs, but we’re not focusing on that anymore. If we make it, we make it.”