After 10 Big Ten games, IU is 4-6 in the conference. IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan has said throughout the season one of their goals is to split each weekend of play, aiming to go .500 in the conference.
Going .500 in the Big Ten, widely regarded as the nation’s best volleyball conference, would give IU a promising shot at ending its four-year NCAA tournament drought.
IU isn’t the only Big Ten team looking to make it to .500 in the conference.
Minnesota (14-7, 4-6) will play IU (13-9, 4-6) at 7 p.m. tonight in University Gym. Both teams are on the cusp of Big Ten relevance.
The Hoosiers are coming off a five-set thriller of a victory against Northwestern this past Saturday. The win against the Wildcats snapped a five-game losing streak ?for IU.
Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Lebo broke out of her hitting slump, recording 13 kills and having just two ?hitting errors.
Dunbar-Kruzan said Lebo had been struggling lately. But IU switched up its offensive scheme against Northwestern, trying to open up some room for the ?outside hitters.
IU responded with a five-set win. Lebo, standing at 5-foot-9, is shorter than many of the other outside hitters. The scheme that IU ran, called a 6-2, tried to get Lebo and other outside hitters in favorable matchups.
Plus, Lebo had a hitting error at the very end of the fifth set, meaning she went almost the entirety of a five-set match with only one hitting error, something her coach was pleased to see.
“She’s really struggled the last four matches,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “It’s the Big Ten. She’s 5-foot-9. She’s going to have those struggles. But I think she got really frustrated with herself.”
Lebo has a jump serve that can get up to a velocity of 50 miles per hour. But when she’s struggling with her hitting, oftentimes the rest of her game struggles, including her serve, ?Dunbar-Kruzan said.
Senior outside hitter Morgan Leach also played well against Northwestern.
She had 14 kills versus just five hitting errors. Leach is the only senior on the team, and Dunbar-Kruzan said she was happy with how she responded.
“Morgan was really playing at a senior level last night,” Dunbar-Kruzan said of Leach’s performance against Northwestern.
The outside hitters had good days with the new system. Dunbar-Kruzan said her team wouldn’t run the 6-2 system exclusively, but it is an option going forward.
The game is available for video broadcast BTN Plus and a radio broadcast on iuhoosiers.com.
