SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Looking for their third consecutive Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory, the Indiana University South Bend volleyball team welcomed conference foe Olivet Nazarene University to the Student Activities Center on Tuesday night. After defeating the visiting Tigers in the opening set, the Titans dropped the next three sets to fall to 4-10 all-time against ONU.
Sarah Allison (JR/Mishawaka, Indiana) paced the IU South Bend attack with 17 kills and just five errors, hitting at a .324 clip. The junior also added 15 digs in the loss.
IU South Bend sprinted out to a 7-2 advantage to open the match forcing ONU head coach Brenda Williams to call a timeout. The Tigers managed to score the next six points to take a slim lead over the Titans. Neither team led by more than three points until the Titans earned the final point of the set via an ONU attack error to seal a 25-21 win.
In the middle of the second set the Titans trailed ONU by just three points but four straight kills from the Tigers forced an IU South Bend timeout. The Titans were unable to bounce back, eventually allowing ONU to even the match at one set apiece with a 25-17 win.
With the score even at 13 in the third set, the Tigers used a 5-0 run to get out in front of the Titans. IU South Bend managed to stay within striking distance and a timely block assists from Sydney Lubinski (SO/South Bend, Indiana) and Ashli Drewes (JR/New Buffalo, Michigan) pulled the Titans within three points at 22-19. After an ONU timeout, the Tigers rattled off three straight to take a 2-1 match lead over the Titans.
The Titans finished with five total team blocks.
It appeared as if the Titans ran out of gas in the fourth set as the Tigers led for the duration of the set. IU South Bend hit just .059 in what turned out to be the final set as the Tigers offense hit .417 on their way to a 25-13 win.
The loss drops the Titans to 8-10 overall and 5-5 in CCAC action on the year.
IU South Bend will return to action this weekend as they travel to the Cornerstone/Aquinas Tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Titans will battle Cornerstone and Northwestern Ohio on Friday and close out the tournament against Aquinas and Siena Heights on Saturday.