Red Wolves - IU East

The Indiana University East volleyball players faced the prospect of a four-hour bus ride stewing over a tough loss.

Instead, they kicked it into overdrive to earn another come-from-behind victory.

The Red Wolves completed a two-match sweep Sept. 19 at the University of the Cumberlands with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11 afternoon win.

IU East beat the Patriots in three games earlier Sept. 19.

IU East (13-3) trailed 8-2 in the fifth game of the rematch, but rallied to win 13 of the last 16 points. The Red Wolves improved to 4-1 in five-game matches. The Patriots fell to 6-10.

"We realized we needed to pick it up," said junior middle hitter Jessica White (Sheldon, Ill./Kankakee Community College). "I'm glad we realized we needed to pick it up because (Cumberland) raised their game in the second match."

Stacie Muir (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville High School) tipped in two of her career-high 15 kills to tie the fifth game at 10 and 11. White and Kristen Mahoney (Pendleton, Ind./Lincoln Community College) teamed up for one block that put IU East ahead 12-11, and another one on match point.

"We finally started talking at the end, and that made a big difference," White said. "We played our game. We talked. We communicated. We played our defense and played our offense, and that’s what helped us."

Freshman setter Lauren Crump (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina High School) distributed 52 assists to break the school record of 47 she had shared with Amanda Martin. Crump also had four aces, including three in a row to put IU East ahead to stay late in Game 3.

Brandie Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike High School) played through pain in the latter stages of the match and still came up with a team season-high 25 digs.

"We did not play at the same intensity level we did the first match (against Cumberlands), but we did a lot of good things," IU East coach Charlie Brown said. "We're so used to playing five-set matches that it was just a matter of re-focusing and pushing through it."

IU East returns to action Sept. 22 at Urbana University. The match starts at 7 p.m.