IU East volleyball wraps up perfect weekend at Grace

IU East volleyball wraps up perfect weekend at Grace

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WINONA LAKE -- The Red Wolves' young pups grew up fast this weekend.

The Indiana University East volleyball team concluded a perfect weekend at the Grace College Ramada Plaza Tournament with a 26-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-22 win against Huntington University on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Wolves (4-0) had already clinched the tournament title with a win against Cedarville University earlier Saturday.

IU East won the event with a roster that includes 11 freshmen and sophomores and no seniors.

"We made a statement," Red Wolves coach Charlie Brown said. "Our goal was to put IU East on the map as a team, and we started that process. We made a statement coming in here against some high level teams and winning four matches.

"And these girls are only going to get better. There's no doubt in my mind about that. The sky is the limit as long as we keep working hard."

Two of those young players received individual honors. Freshman middle hitter Breezy Strete (Troy, Ohio/Troy High School) was named tournament MVP. Freshman setter Lauren Crump (Indianapolis/Scecina High School) joined Strete on the all-tournament team.

"Even though they're freshmen, they come from a very competitive background and they know they have to step up at the college level," said sophomore Madison Qualkenbush (New Castle, Ind./New Castle High School), speaking of the entire freshman class.

" They play right along with the rest of us. There's no difference at all, whether you're a freshman, sophomore, or senior. It doesn't matter as long as you know how to play the game."

The Red Wolves showed some youth with a shaky opening game against the Foresters (0-3). At one point, Strete made her teammates repeat their start-of-game routine, demanding more enthusiasm.

It helped in Game 2 as IU East evened the match.

Games 3 and 4 both were tied at 21 before IU East made late surges.

Strete came up with a pair of timely blocks as the Red Wolves won four of the last five points in Game 3.

A Strete kill put IU East ahead to stay in Game 4 at 22-21. Qualkenbush finished the match with an ace.

"We persevered. We fought through it," Brown said. "It was one of those matches you fight through and hope you come out on top. We did a good job of staying focused when we had to and managed to punch through on the big points."

Ervin enjoyed an efficient afternoon with 13 kills in just 17 attempts. Strete put away nine kills. Qualkenbush made 16 digs. The Red Wolves racked up 10 aces after struggling with their serves against Cedarville.