Senior trio end career with loss

The three seniors on the IU volleyball team, setter Whitney Granado, middle blocker Samantha Thrower and right-side hitter Kelci Marschall have played their last IU game.

“You’re a freshman and you’re like ‘It’s never going to get here’, then it just kind of snuck up on me,” Granado said. “It’s just surreal and too soon.”

The Hoosiers (12-20, 4-16) finished the season on a four match losing streak, losing to No. 2 Penn State, No. 15 Ohio State, No. 22 Purdue and No. 11 Minnesota.

The Hoosiers started off their last portion on the season losing to Penn State in three sets, 25-21, 25-23, 25-16.

“They’ve got tons of talent,” Marschall said. “They’re a great team, they got a great coach and know how to play the game and execute very well. So they really are the best team we played.”

Opponents outscored IU 12-1 in total sets during their last four matches. The Hoosiers’ lone set win came on senior night against Ohio State.

Despite the festivities and celebration after the match, the Buckeyes stole the contest, 25-18, 25-21, 26-28, 25-23.

Ohio State outscored IU by 11 points in the first two sets, but IU came out with a regained focus and almost pushed Ohio State to a fifth set.

“The first two sets were kind of a shell-shocker, I don’t know what was going on there,” Granado said. “I was definitely happy with the third and the fourth set with coming together and how we fought.”

With the rest of the matches, junior outside hitter Jordan Haverly led her team with 15 kills against the Buckeyes.

During the team’s final four matches, Haverly tallied up 62 total kills.

On Wednesday, the Hoosiers traveled to West Lafayette to face the Boilermakers. IU picked up its first conference win of the season against Purdue back on Oct. 16.

This time, the Boilermakers got revenge on their in-state rival. They picked up valuable Crimson and Gold Cup points by besting IU in straight sets 25-21, 25-20, 25-23.

In the last match of the season, IU welcomed the Golden Gophers into University Gym on Saturday.

The team ended the 2012 season on a sour note, losing in straight sets 25-22, 25-20, 25-22.

Haverly recorded five aces, which tied for second-highest in a three set conference match in IU history.

The third set saw the Hoosiers jump out to a 21-13 lead before falling apart and
surrendering a 12-1 run to the Gophers, and ending the seniors’ careers in the process.

“It’s definitely rewarding,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “It’s sad to see them go, but it’s also one of the most rewarding nights for me. They’ve grown up as people, not just as players.”