Oct. 11, 2009

Final Stats

EVANSTON, Ill. - IU Volleyball fell in a five-setter at Northwestern Sunday evening, coming up just two points shy of clinching the victory. The Wildcats snuck by Indiana 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 15-13.

Ashley Benson was lethal from the service line, posting five service aces. Her quintet of aces is the ninth most ever for a single match in IU history, and the fourth-best total ever in a five-set contest. Benson added 14 kills and five blocks to her stat line.

Jordan Haverly, a Cherry Valley, Ill., native, was a defensive star in this one, gobbling up 21 digs and six blocks on the night. Indiana's other product of Illinois, Samantha Thrower, contributed eight kills and four blocks.

Spotting Northwestern a 5-0 lead to start the match, the Hoosiers awoke from their early coma for a 19-5 run that put them ahead 19-10, and included a stretch of nine consecutive points for the Cream and Crimson. During the nine-point run in which Kelsey Hall toed the service line, Haverly stuffed three Wildcat attack attempts.

Northwestern would get no closer than six points the remainder of the set as the Hoosiers rolled to a 25-17 winner. Benson pounded home five kills in the frame while it was Haverly controlling the defensive side of the net with her six digs and four blocks. As a team, the Hoosiers gathered five rejections.

Despite Haverly's continued defensive prowess (seven more digs) in the second set and the emergence of Kelsey Hall's hot right arm (four kills), Indiana came up short, 25-20, as the Wildcats racked up 6.5 team blocks.

The majority of set number three was as tight as possible. In fact, there was a 20-point stretch in which neither squad owned a lead of more than a lone point. Northwestern finally broke that steak amongst a three-point run that eventually gave them a 19-16 edge A block by Sabel Moffett and Brittani Gray later sealed the deal for NU, taking a two-sets-to-one advantage with another 25-20 set tally.

Following the absence of a single team block during sets two and three, the Hoosiers rebuilt the defensive wall in the fourth. Taylor Wittmer led the way with her three blocks, aiding Indiana to a 4.5 block total.

Despite the improved blocking, the Hoosiers still found themselves trailing by four points, 12-8, when Head Coach Sherry Dunbar burned a timeout and gave her team an ear-full in the team huddle. Whatever Coach Dunbar said certainly made an impact. Indiana gathered 17 of the next 21 points and evened the match at two sets apiece.

Things went well early on for IU, holding an 8-4 lead as the two teams switched ends of the court in fifth and final set. That is when Northwestern began to make their push, however, battling back to take a 13-12 lead of their own. Haverly followed with a big-time swing and kill to level the score at 13-13. It was then Northwestern's Moffit's turn to shine as she posted a block and kill on consecutive points to end it, 15-13.

The Cream and Crimson play again on Friday, Oct. 16, jump-starting the Hoosier Hysteria festivities inside Assembly Hall. First serve is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.