Red Wolves - IU East

It's like "Groundhog Day" with unhappy endings for Indiana University East volleyball coach Charlie Brown.

Urbana University defeated the Red Wolves 20-25, 25-18, 13-25, 25-13, 15-11 on Oct. 13, spoiling IU East's debut match at Seton Catholic High School. IU East (18-8) has dropped its last four five-game matches after winning four of five five-game matches in the first month of the season.

The lead character in "Groundhog Day" the movie finds himself reliving the same day over and over.

Brown says he finds himself watching the same match over and over. He saw similar plotlines in IU East's recent setbacks.

"We've got to figure out why we turn lights on, lights off during a match," Brown said. "The last two sets we did not play with the effort and focus we need. We weren't executing because we were thinking about things other than getting the next point. This has become a common theme for us. We've got to understand why that happens and fix it.

"These girls have got to learn how to win matches and how to win matches together. We've got to start playing like every point is match point, and we don't do that. We cannot do that and have an IU East volleyball program that pushes to where we want to be."

The Red Wolves beat Urbana (12-12) in four games on Sept. 22. The Oct. 13 match followed a similar script for three games.

Then came a major plot twist.

The Blue Knights won 10 of the last 12 points in Game 4 to square the match.

IU East answered with the first three points of Game 5, but Urbana came back with five points in a row to take the lead for good.

The Blue Knights' lead would reach 12-6 in the fifth game. The Red Wolves would close within 12-11, but Urbana came up with some big blocks to clinch the match.

We fought real hard," IU East freshman middle hitter Breezy Strete said. "We never gave up. We played every point as hard as we could. Just sometimes it doesn't work out.

"We were up. Then they were up. They happened to be up the last four points."

Freshman outside hitter Brandie Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike High School) led IU East with 15 kills. Freshman outside hitter Stacie Muir (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville High School) had 12 kills. Sophomore libero Madison Qualkenbush made 17 digs and received 26 serves without an error. Freshman setter Lauren Crump distributed 42 assists. Junior middle hitter Jessica White tallied four block assists.

The Red Wolves return to action Oct. 17 with a pair of Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches at Seton Catholic. IU East plays Cincinnati Christian University at 1 p.m. and Brescia University at 5 p.m.