The IUS Volleyball team was defeated by Lindsey Wilson College in a dramatic four set match on Tuesday, Oct. 12, in the Activities Building.
The Grenadiers lost their final home match for the season 19-25, 25-21, 15-25 and 28-30.
The loss drops IU Southeast to 14-11 for the season.
“I think that we came in thinking we were going to win this game because of our last meeting,” Lesley Drury-Prather, IUS Volleyball head coach, said. “You just can’t play like that, and you can’t come in like we did.”
The Grenadiers defeated Lindsey Wilson on the road in four sets on Sept. 29.
“The game was a huge disappointment,” Lauren McCartin, junior libero, said. “I think a lot of us came into the game thinking it was just going to be an easy run through, which it definitely wasn’t.”
The Grenadiers lost the first set, bounced back and won in the second set — only to drop the third and fourth sets in dramatic fashion.
“Game four we didn’t start off our strongest, and we had to fight back,” Katie Johnson, freshman setter, said.
At one point, the Blue Raiders had an 8-14 lead in the fourth set, and the Grenadiers were forced to play from behind.
“It was quite a hard-fought match,” Heather Collins, Lindsey Wilson Volleyball head coach, said. “IUS came out fighting at us in the fourth game, and they just don’t give up.”
The Grenadiers rallied back, and the game was neck-and-neck until the Blue Raiders took advantage of the Grenadiers’ errors and won the fourth set 30-28.
“We came back and did a really good job fighting, but then we made the silliest mistakes at critical times,” Drury-Prather said. “We missed a serve at game point, passed a set way too tight and our hitter couldn’t do anything with it.”
More than 250 people watched the Grenadiers come close to victory, ultimately losing in four sets.
“It’s disappointing because we had an awesome crowd,” Drury-Prather said. “It’s disappointing to leave that taste in their mouth.”
Before the game, Drury-Prather and the Grenadiers honored Brandon Flynn, communication senior and student assistant, during their senior night ceremony.
The Grenadiers have no seniors on the roster.
“Brandon has been a huge help to us,” Drury-Prather said. “He is at every 6 a.m. practice, and he is out there swinging and hitting balls for us. He has been great for our team.”
Flynn has been a student assistant for Drury-Prather and the Grenadiers for the past two years.
“I am fortunate to have Lesley have me be a volunteer assistant,” Flynn said. “It is fun to come in and view these girls as friends and get to know them, and I love watching them succeed.”
Despite a hard-fought effort by the Grenadiers, they failed to succeed and come up with the win against the Blue Raiders.
Julie Roeder, freshman outside hitter, and P.J. Cockerell, sophomore middle hitter, led the Grenadiers in kills with nine each.
Jade Troutman, freshman middle hitter, followed Roeder and Cockerell with eight kills for the match.
“We didn’t play our best, and we made mistakes at critical times that we shouldn’t have,” Troutman said. “It cost us the game.”
The Grenadiers will finish the regular season with 11-straight away games before the conference tournament begins on Friday, Nov. 12 in Berea, Ky.
“We have a long road ahead of us with away games,” Drury-Prather said. “We are just going to have to come in and play hard and hopefully come up with some wins.”
By NIKOLETTE
LANGDON
Staff
nlangdon@umail.iu.edu
