Volleyball team looks to keep momentum

Coming off of its biggest win of the season, the IU volleyball team will look to extend its winning streak this weekend against Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Last Saturday, the Hoosiers knocked off No. 10 Michigan State in five sets in East Lansing, Mich, breaking the team’s 11-match losing streak. It was the team’s first conference win of the season and the Hoosiers’ first victory at Michigan State since 2010. It also was the last of four consecutive road matches.

“We talked about getting a breakthrough, now it’s about what we do with this breakthrough,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “We need to learn from the first half of the Big Ten season.”

To kick off the second half of the Big Ten season, No. 15 Wisconsin (17-5, 6-4) travels on Friday to University Gym to take on IU (9-12, 1-9).

Wisconsin is led by junior Ellen Chapman, who leads the team in kills with 288. Junior Deme Morales is second in kills with 214 and she has 212 digs. Sophomore Taylor Morey leads the Badgers in digs with 275, and senior Annmarie Hickey is second on the team with 224.

Leading the team in assists is top recruit freshman Lauren Carlini, who has 739. She was Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school last year and was ranked as the No. 1 recruit by prepvolleyball.com.

“We definitely go back, and I’ve already rewatched our match against Wisconsin, but you have to remember that was several weeks ago,” Dunbar said. “Then we always watch at least the last two matches they’ve played, and one of my assistants watches a few matches back from that, to look at different strategies.”

On Saturday, the No. 10 Minnesota Golden Gophers (19-4, 6-3) play in Bloomington.
All four of their losses this season have come on the road. They are led by senior Tori Dixon, who has 303 kills and 122 digs. Senior Ashley Wittman leads the team in digs with 256. Senior Alexandra Palmer leads the Golden Gophers in assists with 763.

“I think a lot of teams were probably overlooking us,” senior outside hitter and captain Jade Henderson said. “Both teams are ranked, and they are going to expect us to come out and play because we need more wins.”

IU junior middle blocker Morgan Leach leads the Hoosiers with 217 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze is second with 187. Senior libero and captain Caitlin Hansen leads the Hoosiers in digs with 289, while senior outside hitter Jordan Haverly is second with 183. Freshman setter Megan Tallman is the leader in assists with 417, while sophomore setter Katie Gallagher is second with 381.

The Hoosiers have a 6-4 record at home in University Gym and they will look to add another win in front of their home crowd.

“We are so happy to be back home,” Henderson said. “The fan base we’ve gotten this year has helped us so much, and we feel so comfortable at our gym. We are excited to perform for our fans this weekend.”

Follow reporter Andrew Vailliencourt on Twitter @AndrewVcourt.