IU East News
The Indiana University East volleyball team enjoyed a pleasant ride to its match at Union College on Sept. 18.
The match itself? Not so much.
The Red Wolves fell 25-18, 25-14, 25-20 in a matchup of NAIA top 50 teams.
Union (7-2) entered the match rated 40th in the NAIA Coaches Poll. IU East (11-3) was 42nd.
"I can't think of any one good thing that happened for us tonight," Red Wolves coach Charlie Brown said. "We had a great opportunity to make a statement, nationally, about who we are, and we didn't get it done."
The Red Wolves arrived at the match in style on the school's spanking new bus. It was the first trip on the new bus for any IU East athletics team.
The comfort level disappeared quickly. IU East dropped five of the match's first six points. The Bulldogs never trailed after 5-5 in the second game or after 6-6 in the third game. IU East hit .067 for the match, almost 200 percentage points below its season average. The Red Wolves had entered the match with the 38th-best hitting percentage in the NAIA.
"The stats speak for themselves. That's exactly how we played," Brown said. "This team has got to learn that you can talk a big game, but there comes a time when you've got to put up or shut up, and we didn't rise to the occasion."
Breezy Strete (Troy, Ohio/Troy High School) had six kills for the Red Wolves. Madison Qualkenbush (New Castle, Ind./New Castle High School) and Brandie Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike High School) made 11 digs apiece. Lauren Crump (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina High School) distributed 17 assists.
IU East concludes its road trip with a match at the University of the Cumberlands at 11 a.m. Saturday.
