Purdue took the first set 25-22, the second 25-14 and the third, 25-18.
The first set began with Purdue taking the lead. It came down to the last two points of the match between the two teams.
The Boilermakers made an out-of-bounds hit onto the Hoosiers’ side which, if counted in the Hoosier’s favor, would’ve resulted in a 23-23 tie during the last minutes of the first set.
Instead, the referees gave the point to Purdue, allowing it to pull away and take the first win of the match.
“Obviously anyone can look at that and say ‘what if we had won that set?’” senior outside hitter Amelia Anderson said. “It’s just the way the game is played and that’s the way the cards were dealt. It’s hard to go back and look and say, ‘what if?’ We just need to focus on the next game.”
In the second set against the Boilermakers, the Hoosiers fell behind and the Boilermakers won by the largest margin of the night.
“I was disappointed in that we lost the edge in the second set,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. “I thought we’d be more motivated after that first set because it was a great game of volleyball and that’s how we need to play constantly. We had a discussion about that after. We can’t let our foot off the gas.”
Dunbar-Kruzan called it “the million dollar question” as to why IU lost that edge going into the second set.
During the third set, IU picked its game back up again with multiple ties.
But the Hoosiers eventually fell to the Boilermakers again, giving them the win at University Gym.
“Obviously it’s not what we wanted,” Anderson said. “The great thing about this week is we get to play them again and we’re looking forward to it.”
The Hoosiers begin their practices today to prepare to travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, for continuation of rivalry week with the Boilermakers.
Anderson said IU is already talking about practice and its next step going into the next game Saturday.
“We were fighting ourselves,” Anderson said. “It was a lot of ourselves, because they stayed very consistent on their side. So just figuring that out going into Saturday is going to be really important.”
Anderson said if the Hoosiers want to make that turnaround in West Lafayette they will need to keep that mentality during the whole match as opposed to just within the first set.
Dunbar-Kruzan wants the team to continue to believe in itself and how its playing.
Dunbar-Kruzan said she thinks that will be important to getting a win at Purdue on Saturday.
“The goal is they look at this match and they know they didn’t play their best consistently throughout the night,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “Hopefully we’re more motivated to come back on Saturday and show that it’s in us, that we’re willing to fight for it and make it a battle. Who wins or loses, who knows? I want to see them consistently fight.”
