Iowa is the only team in the Big Ten that IU has not played this season.
Iowa is also currently in last place in the Big Ten standings with only one win during the conference season.
Though the Hawkeyes have been nothing but straight sweeps for other Big Ten opponents, the Hoosiers are going into this game as if it were any other matchup.
“I don’t think we should think any team is going to be an easy match,” freshman middle blocker Elizabeth Asdell said. “I think we should go in and play our game focusing on who we are. It doesn’t matter if it’s Minnesota or Iowa, we need to go out and play our game.”
IU hasn’t won a match against Iowa since the 2010-11 season.
According to past season schedules, when these two teams compete against each other it’s typically longer matches that require all five sets to determine the victor.
“If that’s what it takes to win, then that’s what it takes to win,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. “We’ve talked about however long it takes that we have to find a way to win, but all I want them to do is keep improving. We had two great practices, but this week in practice could’ve gone completely different after not playing well.”
The Hoosiers have been preparing this week by going over technique, breaking down their pin attack, practicing swings and then going to six-on-six play.
Iowa is different from other teams in the Big Ten as it runs a one-footed offense.
The Hoosiers said they understand it and feel confident playing against it.
“I’m going to go in there and just rip it up,” Asdell said. “I’m going to just do me and keep going at it. I want to increase my kill percentage, get more block touches and be key on offense and defense.”
Dunbar-Kruzan noticed practices for the Hoosiers have been good, but they haven’t been able to transfer that to the court when they need to.
If IU is able to play loose volleyball, where they aren’t focused on single mistakes or over-analyzing, Dunbar-Kruzan said she thinks they are going to have some great opportunities to find wins Wednesday.
“When you compete at this high of a level you can’t over-analyze everything you just have to compete,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “You need to trust in the training you’ve had everyday in practice, and that’s the kind of mentality we want in the match.”
