IU volleyball set to face Iowa, Minnesota at home

This weekend, the IU volleyball team (14-12, 5-9) will stay in Bloomington to face Minnesota (13-11, 6-8) and Iowa (9-16, 1-13). Minnesota, a club ranked as high as No. 11 earlier in the season, has lost eight of its last nine conference matches. The Hawkeyes are sitting at the bottom of the conference and have dropped their last 10 matches.\nLast weekend, IU saw two teams with a combined record of 34-13, whereas this weekend they will face two teams with a combined record of 22-27. IU coach Sherry Dunbar said her squad has been spending time working on their own game rather than worrying what the opponents’ records are.\n“I think we’ve been focusing on us,” she said. “We need to focus more on our unforced errors rather than Iowa and Minnesota.”\nAt 7 p.m. Friday, the Hoosiers will face a struggling Minnesota squad that is in desperate need of a win. Although the Gophers have had an inconsistent season, freshman middle blocker Taylor Wittmer said she still sees this weekend as a challenge.\n“This weekend will not be less difficult,” she said. “We see this as a normal weekend where we have the opportunity to improve our record.”\nThe Gophers are led by 6-foot-1 freshman outside hitter Brook Dieter, who averages 3.39 kills per game, and 6-foot-4 junior outside hitter Kyla Roehrig with 3.34 kills per game. Dunbar said she knows Minnesota will come to the University Gym and play with everything they have.\n“They’re a team that’s probably going to fight really hard,” she said. “They’re still in the thick of things.”\nAfter matching up with the Gophers, the Hoosiers will face the team with the worst record in the conference – Iowa – at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Hawkeyes fell to the Hoosiers earlier this season in a five-game match that began the slide to their current position.\nSenior defensive specialist Juli Pierce said she believes the team must be consistent with their attack from game to game no matter the opponent, something the Hoosiers have been working on.\n“It’s mostly our mental game we need to work on,” she said. “We need to bring it every time we step on the floor.”\nCurrently on a five-game losing streak, Wittmer said she feels the Hoosiers must stay optimistic in every game from here on out, as well as maintain good in-game communication.\n“We look to each other for positive feedback,” she said. “In scrimmages during practice, we encourage each other on the court.”\nWith six games remaining in the season and sitting two games back of third place in the conference, Dunbar continued to stress maintaining a good attitude between her players.\n“It’s never over until it’s really over,” she said. “That’s how things are in the Big Ten, and there are so many opportunities still left for them. They must stay positive.”