Volleyball loses 11th straight to Purdue

In a televised match against in-state rival No. 21 Purdue, the IU volleyball team fell in three sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-19). The loss marks the 11th straight loss for the Hoosiers (8-12, 0-9) who are still looking for their first conference win.

In the first set, Purdue (14-6, 5-4) started fast and built an eight-point lead, but IU rallied back to within two before the Boilermakers were able to close it out.

“(Starting slow) has been an issue for us, not as bad as it was tonight,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “It is hard to win a match when you are constantly fighting to get back in the game.”

In the second set, IU had an 18-16 lead before allowing Purdue to come back and win the set, closing with a 9-1 run.

Purdue came out strong in the third once again, taking a 10-0 lead before finally giving up a point to IU. However, the Hoosiers cut the lead again to within two before the Boilermakers finished them off.

“We are doing a lot of things well. A trend we have noticed is that we get down in the beginning, and then we usually out-play almost every other team we’ve played,” IU freshman setter Megan Tallman said. “That can be frustrating, but it shows that we have what it takes.”

IU was led by sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze and junior middle blocker Morgan Leach who each had eight kills. Senior libero Caitlin Hansen had a team high seven digs, and Tallman had 25 assists for the Hoosiers.

Purdue was led by senior Catherine Rebarchak with 10 kills. Senior Carly Cramer had 12 digs, and junior Val Nichol had 19 assists for the Boilermakers.

“We are always excited for the turn around,” Tallman said. “We are already talking positively about it, we know what we are going to fix, and this team is still positive.”

Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.