Image courtesy of IU Athletics
IUSportCom’s Joseph Adams gives his recap on how the Hoosiers fell short to B1G rival, Iowa.
The Hoosiers’ efforts to win their first conference game fell short Friday night as they fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes 3-1 at University Gymnasium.
After starting the match with losses in the first two sets, the Hoosiers came out after halftime looking like a different team. They won the third set, but were unable to keep that momentum, losing to Iowa in the fourth and final set.
The Hoosiers struggled to get going early; they got down in both sets and were constantly trying to get back into the match, but were unable to overcome several serving and hitting errors. The Hoosiers’ problems began by conceding several points at a time before answering with their own. Allowing five straight points multiple times in the first two sets allowed Iowa to maintain a comfortable lead.
After halftime, the Hoosiers came out fired up and matched Iowa point-for-point before scoring three straight to win the third set 25-23.
“At halftime we went into the locker room and got fired up and that helped us come out with more energy,” said sophomore Morgan Leach.
Though Indiana had momentum behind them, Iowa got an early 10-5 lead in the fourth set. After an IU timeout, Iowa continued to build their lead, making it 17-10 when IU called another timeout. That is when things changed, and Indiana came out and went on a 6-3 run to make it 20-16. After an Iowa timeout, Indiana continued to gain ground, making it 23-22. Only trailing by one point, Indiana was called for touching the net; a point was awarded to Iowa and that was the dagger. Iowa would score on their next serve and win the set 25-22.
Iowa was led by Rachael Bedell who had a team-high 26 kills. Indiana sophomore Morgan Leach led Indiana with 15 kills.
“I feel like I was in the zone tonight,” Leach said. “I really wanted to focus on every ball, make sure I got set, and wanted to get a good hit on it.”
With the loss, Indiana’s record drops to 8-9 overall, and 0-5 in the Big Ten.
Indiana will have to recover quickly as they will face 4th-ranked Nebraska at University Gymnasium Saturday at 7 p.m.
