WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

HU Takes Two In Upland 

Upland, Ind.- The Huntington University women’s volleyball team made the quick trip to Upland on Friday afternoon and came away with two wins over Indiana University satellite schools. In the first match of the day, the Foresters swept the Titans of IU South Bend then took down the #RV Red Wolves of IU East in a five set battle of the wills.

It was all HU in the opener as they outscored the Titans 75-47 and never trailed in the dominant three set victory (25-11, 25-20, 25-16). Haley Kruse smashed nine kills on 13 attempts, while Lauryn Hardy stepped in and notched a career best seven kills. The HU defense kept the Titan offense in check throughout the afternoon, limiting IUSB (0-7) to 17 total kills.

“This was a match where we needed to be disciplined and dictate the tempo. Lauryn Hardy came in and did a great job having a scorer’s mentality on offense and providing a disciplined block,” remarked Coach Kelsey Herber. “We passed the ball well and it was a good way to kick off the weekend with a win.”

HU took to the court a few hours later with revenge on their minds against the #RV Red Wolves of Indiana University East. The Red Wolves (7-3) spoiled the Foresters’ first match of the season exactly two weeks prior, but a motivated HU squad came away with the win in this matchup (23-25, 25-19, 16-25, 25-23, 15,11).

Herber claimed “…we circled this date on our calendars. We came back with vengeance, and I am so proud of our team’s competitive drive, confident play, and response to adversity. This win took each person on our team and we are thrilled to have another opportunity to play tomorrow.”

Senior Kortney Grimm led the Foresters with 16 kills, while Haley Kruse and Leah Carter had 10 and nine kills respectively. Lauren Ross led a balanced offensive attack by handing out 44 assists. Olivia Krahn was steady on the back line as she led the defense with 17 digs.

The Foresters (6-2) return to Upland on Saturday to take on Saint Xavier (Ill) at 2:00pm and Concordia (Mich.) at 4:30pm.