Volleyball swept by ranked foes over weekend

With the second half of Big Ten play under way, the IU volleyball team fell for the second time this season to both No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 10 Minnesota.
On Friday, Wisconsin came to Bloomington and knocked off IU (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19).

“It was a real positive that we built those leads,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “Against a good team, they are going to come back on you, and you have to stay composed.”

An area that the Hoosiers were able to get kills was in the middle of the court by way of tipping the ball over. It visibly frustrated the Badgers and their coaching staff.

“You find kills any way you can,” IU senior libero and captain Caitlin Hansen said.
IU (9-14, 1-11) was led by senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly, who had 17 kills.

Hansen led the team with 11 digs, and freshman setter Megan Tallman led the Hoosiers with 41 assists.

Wisconsin (18-6, 7-5) was led by junior Dominique Thompson, who had 16 kills. Juniors Ellen Chapman and Deme Morales each added 12 kills. Senior Annemarie Hickey led the Badgers with 13 digs, while Morales added 11. Freshman Lauren Carlini had 53 assists for Wisconsin.

On Saturday, No. 10 Minnesota (21-4, 9-3) swept IU (25-18, 25-19, 25-12). The IU coaches and players had nothing but praise for the Golden Gophers following the match.

IU was led by Haverly again with 13 kills, while junior middle blocker Morgan Leach had 11. Freshman defensive specialist Taylor Lebo was the leader in digs with 10, and Tallman led in assists with 30.

“Minnesota is a great team,” Dunbar said. “There are to me only a few teams in the Big Ten who are just far and above what everybody else is doing, and Minnesota is one of those teams.”

“They’re one of those teams that I think will go pretty far in the tournament and will represent the Big Ten really well.”

Minnesota was led by sophomore Daly Santana, who had 10 kills, while senior Tori Dixon and junior Adrianna Nora each added nine. Sophomore Lindsey Lawmaster led the Gophers with 11 digs.

“I think our serve receive and defense was pretty good still, but we just need to find more ways to get kills.”

Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.