IU volleyball sweeps northern road trip

All the IU volleyball team needed to win was a little time away from home.

IU headed into this weekend’s road trip sporting a 2-6 Big Ten record. Even tougher for the Hoosiers was the fact they had played six of their first eight matches at home and faced the prospect of many road games remaining as a result.

IU responded to the challenge this weekend, knocking off Northwestern 3-2 on Friday and upsetting No. 21 Wisconsin 3-1 on Sunday. The victory against Wisconsin was the Hoosiers’ first in their last 12 tries against the Badgers and the first in Madison since 1995.

Overall, IU improves to 12-10 on the year and has won three times in its last four matches.

Against Northwestern, IU trailed 2-1 before winning game four 25-18 and game five 15-10. In the fifth set, IU was able to extend an 11-9 lead thanks to three straight attacking errors by Northwestern’s offense. With the score 14-9, IU recorded an attacking error of its own before sophomore middle blocker Ashley Benson notched a kill to end the match.

For Benson it was one of 23 kills on the night, which was a new individual record for her in a single match.

IU coach Sherry Dunbar said she thought Benson turned in a great match, rebounding from recent struggles.

“Ashley (Dunbar) really got back on track tonight,” Dunbar said in a statement. “She was unstoppable at times tonight, and the setters did a good job of getting her the ball.”

As a team, the Hoosiers won in the kills department 72-59, as well as the dig category 74-65.  

Against the Badgers, the Hoosiers lost the first set but rebounded to win the next three. The key moment of the match came late in the third set, when IU trailed 23-20 but ran off five straight points to win.

Dunbar said she thought the Hoosiers played strong throughout the match.

“We really stayed aggressive, playing with a lot of confidence,” Dunbar said. “We got the points when we needed them.”

IU returns home to University Gym next weekend, when the team takes on Iowa and No. 11 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.

Both matches begin at 7 p.m.