Senior night special for Hall, '09 Hoosier squad

The IU volleyball team had not won a set against Penn State since November 2001.

IU did not end that drought in its last home stand of the 2009 season, but came close – twice.

The Hoosiers (15-17, 4-14) dropped a four-set loss to Ohio State (22-9, 10-8) on Friday and nearly took two sets away from No. 1 Penn State (30-0, 18-0) before falling in three on Saturday at University Gym.

“I’m just happy we played well,” IU coach Sherry Dunbar said after the match against the Nittany Lions. “I’m just happy we came out and competed really hard and that we had an opportunity to win a set.

“I was very proud of the heart we displayed, and I think we gave the crowd a lot to cheer about tonight.”

Penn State kept off the Hoosiers’ effort to extend its win streak to 94 matches, winning by scores of 25-22, 25-16 and 26-24.

IU matched the two-time defending national champions in aggressive attacking with 44 kills, just one shy of Penn State’s total.

The Hoosiers had late leads in the first and third sets and even had two set points in the third at 24-22. Both times, the Nittany Lions rallied back to win.

“I wish we could’ve won those two sets,” said junior middle blocker Ashley Benson, who led IU with 11 kills. “But Penn State’s a really good team, and they can turn a switch on or turn it off as much as they want.”

The previous night, IU honored senior hitter Kelsey Hall, graduate student Whitney Thomas and senior trainer Meghan Chambers on Senior Night before playing Ohio State.

Hall led the Hoosiers against the Buckeyes with 13 kills, but the team wasn’t sharp in falling to Ohio State by scores of 25-16, 25-20, 20-25 and 25-22.

Despite the loss on Senior Night, Hall said she was proud of her final pair of matches in University Gym.

“It was a good memory to have,” Hall said. “It felt really good because I’m leaving a memory, and I want to go out strong.”