Much like its last match at Maryland, IU volleyball took the first set from Iowa on Sunday afternoon but failed to translate it into a win. After a 25-20 win in set one, the Hoosiers were outscored by the Hawkeyes 76-50 in the final three sets.
The turnaround for Iowa was apparent in its attacking numbers throughout the match. In the first set, Iowa hit only .091. However, the Hawkeyes hit .333, .321 and .278 in the next three sets.
Once again, IU’s offense struggled to hit its stride. Negative hitting percentages in the final two sets dipped its overall number to .087 on the match.
On the bright side for IU, sophomore outside hitter Breana Edwards showed why she leads the Hoosiers in kills by posting 16 on the afternoon. Redshirt senior outside hitter Kendall Beerman had eight kills, her largest output since Sept. 29.
Now IU finds itself at 1-7 in conference, looking to gain any sort of momentum after facing a difficult schedule to open conference play. Currently, the Hoosiers are 12th in the Big Ten, only ahead of 0-8 Northwestern and Rutgers.
Things won’t get much easier for IU as current No. 5 Nebraska, who is 15-2 on the season, comes to Bloomington on Friday. The next night, the Hoosiers will have another crack at the Hawkeyes, this time on IU’s home court. The Nebraska match is set to start at 8 p.m., while the Iowa match begins at 7 p.m.
