IU volleyball falls to No. 5 Penn State

No. 5 Penn State (11-2) proved to be too much for the IU Volleyball team (8-6) as the two teams battled it out on national television for the first time ever in Bloomington.

The Nittany Lions took all three sets against the Hoosiers, (25-18, 25-19, and 25-8).
The second set was key for IU. It came out strong holding a lead and had the crowd going, but then Penn State came back finishing the set on an 11-5 run.

“I felt like the wheels started to come off,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “They got one point and it was like everybody started flipping out a little bit, and we didn’t stick to the game-plan.”

The third set started ugly as the Hoosiers dropped the first nine points before finally winning a point. But the Nittany Lions bounced back and closed out the match, holding the Hoosiers to just blank points.

“We almost got too comfortable and then we started playing cocky,” senior libero Caitlin Hansen said. “We didn’t stick to our game-plan and we started playing within ourselves and didn’t take chances.”

IU was led by senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly who had seven kills, a team high. Hansen led the team in digs with eight, and sophomore setter Katie Gallagher led the Hoosiers in assists with 19.

Hansen got her 1,000th dig, placing her 10th all time in Indiana history. Gallagher also got her 1,000th assist.

“I had no idea how close I was,” Hansen said. “Shane (Director of Volleyball Operations) said something to me earlier about being close, but I said please don’t tell me because I just want to win games.”

Penn State was led by sophomore Megan Courtney who had 15 kills, a match high. Dominique Gonzalez led the Nittany Lions in digs with eight, and junior Micha Scott led them in assists with 38. Hancock also led the visitors in aces with four.

“Penn State hit .500 as a team, so their entire team played well,” Dunbar said. “I always think Hancock just does a good job with running the show. She obviously gets her aces and she makes good decisions.”

IU’s team leader in kills, junior outside hitter Morgan Leach, was held to just four kills and hit .077.

“It’s tough, we really didn’t get Morgan involved in the offense,” Dunbar said. “Because she’s such a good player we need to get her involved early and keep her involved and engaged.”

On Saturday, IU welcomes No. 12 Ohio State to Bloomington. The Hoosiers are looking to get back on track and avoid losing their sixth consecutive match.

“They do commit blocking, which means they decide before the ball is served who they are going to go after,” Dunbar said. “Our hitters will need to be really aggressive.
They are a really good serving team, and they are playing really well.

“They only have one loss, and it came to Michigan State who just beat Penn State.”

Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.