IU wins, then drops two-straight matches in California tournament

It was a weekend of ups and downs for the IU women’s volleyball team, but libero Caitlin Cox remained a model of consistency as the senior earned another All-Tournament team selection in San Diego.

IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said there was a level of excitement in Cox’s face to play against the best competition IU has seen thus far.

The Hoosiers won one match before dropping the next two in the University of San Diego tournament.

“She loves those matches,” Dunbar said. “We need more people that like to take on those challenges. She is always steady, but it was nice to see her add even more this weekend against tough competition.”

The weekend started with an upset — a five-set win against previously undefeated George Washington on Friday.

After dropping the fourth set by 10 points, the Hoosiers went down by four points early in the final set before battling back to win the set, 15-13, and the match.

Junior Kelci Marschall led the comeback with 17 kills against the Colonials.

Dunbar said Marschall has learned how to handle pressure situations and has become one of the Hoosiers most clutch players.

“She has really grown personally and physically,” Dunbar said. “She wants the ball in crucial times. She wants to be back serving with the game on the line. She wants that pressure.”

While the Hoosiers pulled off the upset Friday night, the team could not duplicate the result Saturday morning against UC Santa Barbara.

The Hoosiers dropped the first two sets of the match but rallied behind Marschall and Cox to force a fifth set — which they eventually lost to the Gauchos, 13-15.

Cox — who was selected to the all-tournament teams of both the Hoosier Classic and the Hokie Classic  — led the Hoosiers back with 21 digs and six aces. The libero’s aces tied for the fourth most in IU history for a single match.

Although the match ended in a loss, it was an example of a total team effort as the Hoosiers had three players with double-digit kills and three players with double-digit digs.

“With the type of team that we have, that is the type of team we are going to be,” Dunbar said. “We need to have a lot a people stepping up with not just the kills, but with the percentages, too.”

In the tournament’s final game, the Hoosiers played their toughest opponent of the season — No. 17 San Diego.

Unlike the rest of the weekend, the match versus San Diego did not provide as many fireworks, as the Hoosiers were swept in straight sets, 13-25, 17-25, 16-25.

“I thought we played safe,” Dunbar said. “When you start playing safe, safe gets you losses. ... It was an eye opener for me.

“The talent is there, but the mentality needs to change to believe that you can play at that level consistently. That’s the step we still need to take — playing with confidence
consistently.”