The Michigan volleyball team knows that there's more than corn in Indiana.
The Wolverines (5-11 Big Ten, 10-17 overall) travel to Indiana to face Purdue on Friday and Indiana on Saturday.
"Purdue and Indiana are really similar in that they aren't extremely physical, but they both work really hard," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "They're both good defensive teams, they don't make mistakes, they keep the ball in play."
Michigan is going into the weekend after losing its last three matches.
With only four matches remaining in the season, Giovanazzi may be looking toward the future a little bit.
"The best this team can do is sixth in the conference," Giovanazzi said. "There's a balance between making the team better for the future and having to give seniors a chance to play."
Sophomores Karen Chase, Linsey Ebert and Jeanine Szczesniak and junior Sarah Jackson have been carrying a large portion of the Michigan workload on their collective shoulders.
Chase averages 3.61 kills per game, Ebert's hitting percentage is .237, Szczesniak's percentage is .228 and Jackson rounds out the four with 3.15 kills per game and .279 average.
"Our younger people are just getting better and better," Giovanazzi said. "Our three sophomores are really doing a good job."
The last Purdue-Michigan match is one that the Wolverines would just as soon forget. Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Wolverines were in a position to win game four, leading 12-4 at one point. However, the Boilermakers rallied and won the game, 15-12, and consequently the match.
"Purdue has three seniors that are on a mission," Giovanazzi said. "Purdue is a tough place to play."
The Boilermakers (4-12, 11-17) sit in ninth place in the Big Ten and are on a six-match losing streak. Brooke White is their leading hitter with 4.75 kills per game. She is second on the all-time kill list at Purdue with 1,564.
When Indiana (3-13, 9-18) traveled to Ann Arbor last month, the Hoosiers found themselves leading 2-1 in their match against Michigan.
By the end of the match, the Hoosiers were the losers, 3-2, letting the Wolverines rally and steal the match.
"Indiana was in the NCAAs last year, so they're a good group," Giovanazzi said.
At 10th place in the conference, the Hoosiers are led by Melissa Rooney who averages four kills per game.
Indiana also leads the conference in aces with 1.92 per game.
The Wolverines are hoping for nothing less than a sweep of the weekend. Although they have had very strong performances against top-ranked teams such as Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State, they have had trouble with the lower-ranked teams.
"We have to go there and expect balls to come back," Giovanazzi said. "I think sometimes when we're playing teams that are equal to us and below us, we think it's automatically a kill. Whereas against Ohio State and Penn State, we know (the ball) is going to come back."
Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa are all teams that the Wolverines felt they should have defeated but have lost to each at least once.
"My biggest concern is whether or not we can finish these teams off, because we should," Giovanazzi said.
Kristen Ruschiensky and Chereena Tennis are both questionable for the trip due to illness.
DAMIAN PETRESCU/Daily
The Michigan volleyball team is looking to bump off Purdue, Indiana, and its three-game losing streak this weekend. The Wolverines will travel to West Lafayette tomorrow and complete their tour of the Hoosier state Saturday in Bloomington.