IU East wins "KIAC Game of the Week" at IU Kokomo, 3-1
IU East wins "KIAC Game of the Week" at IU Kokomo, 3-1
STATS
(By Franklin Crist, IU East sports information)
RICHMOND, Ind. – We all like happy endings, and what better way to end your illustrious career than beating the top team in the conference while everyone dresses as your favorite movie characters?
Mallory Livingston (Union City, Ohio/Mississinawa Valley High School), the lone senior on the Indiana University East volleyball team, had that dream come to reality as she and her fellow Red Wolves knocked off Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference leader and 32nd-ranked IU Kokomo, 3-1 (26-28, 26-24, 25-21, 25-19) on Oct. 29 in the "KIAC Game of the Week."
The fans in a packed Chuck Mosey Memorial Gym toted their best "Harry Potter" costumes in recognition of Livingston's favorite movie/book series in Livingston's final regular season home match.
IU East improved to 21-13 overall and 8-2 in the KIAC. IU Kokomo, which had a 19-match winning streak snapped, fell to 29-3 overall and 10-1 in the KIAC.
"Oh my gosh, I wouldn't have it any other way," Livingston stated following the win. "I was so nervous all day today, and I just wanted to nap, but when I closed my eyes I could only just lay there and think about this game. I couldn't have had this played out any better."
Livingston was thankful for the pregame Senior Night recognition and the Harry Potter-themed night.
"I think it was actually good for us," she said. "We seemed to be more loose, and it really lightened the mood and kept us from being too serious."
All was not as wonderful at the beginning for the Red Wolves. IU East dropped the first set after leading for much of the opening frame. The life was seemingly sucked right out of the gym - but not for long.
"I think that we had some communication things go wrong for us there, and that's why we couldn't finish the first set, but the energy was really good, and I think we fed off of it very well and it carried us through the rest of the game," Livingston said. "This just proves that we can beat anyone. I think we can play with any team on our schedule, and this is just a great motivator going into the conference tournament."
Livingston finished her Hogwarts-infused evening with 19 kills, 14 digs, three blocks and two aces.
IU Kokomo got 12 kills and 16 digs from Lindi Thomas.
IU Kokomo can still clinch the outright regular season conference title, the No. 1 seed for the KIAC tournament and an automatic berth in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship with a win at WVU Tech on Oct. 30.
IU East heads to Cincinnati on Oct. 31 for matches against Cincinnati Christian University and Carlow University. The Red Wolves would earn no worse than a tie for second in the KIAC standings with two wins.