Hoosiers lose season's first tournament in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — The IU women’s volleyball team went 1-2 in the Butler Invitational, falling short of winning the team’s third-consecutive tournament due to inconsistency from the team’s hitters, IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said.

“The biggest problem we had was our hitters,” Dunbar said. “They did not work hard enough to put balls away.”

IU started the weekend started with its first five set battle of the season. Stephen F. Austin defeated the Hoosiers 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 25-16, 15-13).

After splitting the first two sets, IU found itself tied 22-22 in the third set after a Stephen F. Austin rally to tie the score. The Hoosiers took four of the next six points for the third set win 26-24.

In the fifth and final set, IU jumped out to a 10-3 lead.

However, the Ladyjacks’ comebacks weren’t finished as they stunned IU by going on a 8-0 run to take the set 15-13 and thus the match.

The Hoosiers turned around the next day to sweep Western Illinois 26-24, 25-20, 25-20.

In the process, Dunbar picked up the 200th win of her career.

IU was led by junior outside hitter Jordan Haverly and sophomore middle blocker Morgan Leach, each of whom chipped in 13 kills.

Leach led the Hoosiers with a .526 hitting percentage, converting her 13 kills on 19 swings.

Freshman setter Katie Gallagher had 46 assists in the match, good for 15.33 assists per set on average.

Seeing her first significant game action since Aug. 31, freshman defensive specialist Courtney Harnish played in all three sets, adding six digs.

“I liked her a lot, she’s one of the bright spots for me,” Dunbar said. “I thought she was calm, I thought she broke down a little bit at the end, but I thought she got a lot of points with her serve and did a great job passing.”

As the sun flooded the court of Hinkle Fieldhouse, IU faced invitational-host Butler in the conclusion of weekend action.  

Butler took a quick lead in the first set and had a stranglehold on the match the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs took the match in four sets: 25-18, 25-20, 15-25, 25-14.

In the second set, IU jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, only to see Butler go on a 9-1 run to take control.

In the fourth and final set, Butler finished off the Hoosiers with two consecutive aces to seal the victory.

Gallagher was the only Hoosier named to the all-tournament team after her third double-double of the season against Butler, recording 36 assists and 14 digs.

Leach was disappointed after the Butler match, and she said she knows her team can play better.

“We just learned you got to fight no matter what the score is,” Leach said. “We know how we can play. We saw it in the second match of the tournament and we just have to take it and get more consistent as a team.”