IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan knew she needed to change her gameplan.
The IU women’s volleyball team had lost 14 of their last 15 sets, going 0-5 in their last five Big Ten matches.
They were struggling on offense. So Dunbar-Kruzan made a schematic change against Northwestern.
While most teams use just one setter, IU used a scheme called a 6-2, allowing two setters to be on the floor at once. With this addition, the team’s passing would hopefully improve, and their hitters would get better chances at converting.
And against Northwestern, it worked.
IU (13-9, 4-6) beat Northwestern (13-8, 3-7) in five sets Saturday night after losing in straight sets to Illinois (16-5, 8-2) the day before.
“It was one of our better passing matches of the year,” Dunbar-Kruzan said, crediting the 6-2 system.
Senior outside hitter Morgan Leach said she hasn’t played in the 6-2 system since the beginning of last year.
There was a slight learning curve in practice leading up to the game against Northwestern, but she felt her team understood the system heading into the match.
“We’re all pretty comfortable,” Leach said. “With different setters, it’s gonna be kind of different and a little bit of a learning curve.”
The match between IU and Northwestern was a back and forth affair the whole night.
IU won the first set by two points. Then Northwestern won the next set by three points.
The two teams traded third and fourth win sets. Both won by two points, forcing a fifth set.
In the fifth set, Northwestern took a 10-6 lead. The match was so close, Dunbar-Kruzan said it might have been the biggest lead of the match.
Northwestern only needed five more points to win the match.
But IU then went on a 9-3 run, capped off by a Northwestern service error, to break its five-game losing streak and beat the Wildcats.
Going forward, Dunbar-Kruzan said she doesn’t think her team will use the 6-2 system exclusively, but it is another option the Hoosiers will have.
“We’re pretty comfortable in it,” she said. “We didn’t just run it for a set or two. We made a decision before the match that we’re going to run this.”
Leach, who had 14 kills against Northwestern, said because of the 8 p.m. start time, the team didn’t get back into Bloomington until 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
The bus the team took was equipped with beds, though, making the late-night journey back home a little more comfortable.
“Getting up at 4 a.m. was a little disorientating,” Leach said. “But if it takes that long to get the win, I won’t be mad about it.”
