Hoosiers look to build on success

The IU volleyball team is using last weekend’s three-game sweep at the adidas Classic to carry momentum into the University of Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Its 3-0 record and impressive showings from several players has had a tremendous impact on the players’ mental game, said senior co-captain Erica Short.

“I feel like the win from last week will give us confidence for this week,” said Short, who took tournament MVP honors last weekend and is ready for the University of Kentucky Invitational this weekend.

“These are great teams we’re going to play, but it was a great confidence booster.”  
IU coach Sherry Dunbar said she hopes to use those three wins as a reference point during the season’s down times. 

Several of the players have learned some important lessons from the adidas Classic and plan to apply them to this weekend’s matches.

“The fight is what I’ll take with me next weekend, especially against Louisville,” said sophomore middle blocker Ashley Benson. “Yea, we were up and then we were down, but in that fifth game we had to fight to win.”

The team has been working hard this week to add three more wins to the board.

“This week started off pretty rough; we didn’t come in ready to practice,” Benson said. “We all had our minds on the weekend still. We came in and didn’t do very well the first day, but we all talked about it, came back, and we had three great practices in a row and have really been preparing for this weekend.”

The team travels next to Kentucky to participate in the University of Kentucky Invitational. The Hoosiers face Kentucky at 7 p.m. Friday, with 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. matches against Albany and Eastern Kentucky, respectively, on tap for Saturday.

“Kentucky has a lot of experienced players, good ball control, and a very balanced talent system,” Dunbar said.

The team has been reviewing film and preparing themselves for what is to come.
“Their setters dump a lot more than ours do,” Short said. “That’s what we worked on: picking up the setter dump and making sure we’re hitting open shots.”