Red Wolves - IU East

RICHMOND, Ind. - The Red Wolves migrated a few miles south for a pair of volleyball victories.

The Indiana University East volleyball team swept Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference leader College of Mount Saint Joseph and crosstown opponent Earlham College on Sept. 29 at Earlham.

The NAIA No. 18 Red Wolves won 25-23, 25-20, 25-10 against College of Mount Saint Joseph (6-11).

IU East then won 25-3, 25-9, 25-15 against Earlham (5-11).

"(Earlham) is a great venue, and we talked before the matches about the relationship between IU East and Earlham," said IU East coach Charlie Brown. "It was fun to be here in the gym with them."

(The IU East players had a more competitive outlook. They took the court with "WAR" written on their wrists, an abbreviation for "We Are Richmond," a reference to the crosstown competition).

The Red Wolves didn't have much fun in the first set against College of Mount Saint Joseph. IU East trailed 23-20 before winning the last five points and the set. But the Red Wolves found their groove by the third set against the Lions. They carried that momentum into the opening set against the Quakers and tied the school record for fewest points allowed in a set.

"Our ball control was a lot better and our serving was more aggressive, which is what we had to focus on in that match," said IU East freshman defensive specialist Allison Gutierrez. "We came out from our last match (a loss against NAIA No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan on Sept. 26) ready to play and did our job."

IU East served up 12 Wetzel Family Auto Cruise Aces against Earlham, including five by sophomore defensive specialist Cinder Weber.

Senior middle hitter Breezy Strete (Troy, Ohio/Troy High School) led IU East with 23 kills on the day, including a kill on the Parallax Systems Set Point in the first set against both Mount Saint Joseph and Earlham.

"Our focus today was we had to bounce back from a tough loss (against Indiana Wesleyan) and work on a lot of things," Brown said. "We did well on staying focused an executing those specific tasks. I was beginning to wonder about us (during the shaky first set against Mount Saint Joseph), but we warmed up, and once we got in a groove we stayed the course and stayed disciplined and closed out the matches."

IU East plays a Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tri-match on Oct. 3 at Cincinnati Christian University. The Red Wolves face Alice Lloyd College at 2 p.m. and tri-match host CCU at 4 p.m.

IU East-Mount Saint Joseph box score

IU East-Earlham box score

IU East-Earlham broadcast from RadioTroy.com: