The Iowa volleyball team welcomed the Indiana Hoosiers into Iowa City Wednesday night and gained its third straight victory, 3-2.

After jumping out to a 3-1 lead in set one, the Hawkeyes fell behind, 6-3, and trailed until evening the score at 8. They recaptured the lead and the momentum at 10-9, and after an emphatic kill by freshman Taylin Alm put the Hawkeyes ahead 14-10, Indiana called a time-out.

The Hoosiers came roaring back out of the break, cutting the Iowa lead to 18-17, but after a Lauren Brobst kill ended a Hoosier run, Iowa had all but secured the first set.

After another Hoosier timeout trailing, 21-17, Iowa used two Julianne Blomberg kills to cruise to a 25-18 victory in set one.

Blomberg led with 3 kills in the set with a .429 hitting percentage, and she also had six digs and two service aces.

“Julianne passes, jump serves, digs, hits, blocks,” coach 0Bond Shymansky said. “She’s doing a lot of things for us.”

Indiana quickly claimed a 5-1 lead in set two, but the Hawkeyes battled back to a 6-6 tie. A flurry of kills by Alessandra Dietz then helped the team claim an 11-9 advantage.

Indiana tied the match again at 11, but another kill by Dietz kept the Hawkeyes ahead. Consecutive kills by Alm widened the advantage to 14-11 and forced another time-out from Indiana head coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan.

Iowa surrendered a 6-1 Indiana run out of the break, prompting Shymansky to take a time-out of his own, behind 17-15. His team stumbled out of the huddle, and he called them back again, trailing 22-18.

The Hawkeyes responded, and a 4-point run cut the deficit to 23-22. Another Indiana time-out halted the comeback, and the Hoosiers eventually claimed a 25-23 victory.

The third set was on par with those before it, with a bevy of ties and lead changes early. However, once trailing 10-8, the Hawkeyes showed their resiliency that has improved so much over the course of this season.

After tying the match at 11, Iowa roared ahead to a 21-18 advantage. Indiana closed the gap, however, and knotted the score at 21.

A Brobst block prevented Iowa from surrendering the lead, and an Alm kill forced a Hoosier time-out trailing 23-21. An error and a Brobst kill abruptly ended the set however, with Iowa winning, 25-21.

Iowa quickly fell behind, 10-4, in set four, and that eventually grew to 16-8. They competed through the set however, once coming within 4 points of the lead, but they could never escape the early deficit. They dropped the set, 25-19.

Iowa found itself in another five-setter, a situation in which the young team has, curiously, thrived.

“It starts in practice,” Alm said. “We do fifth set segments, so when that comes together in practice, it definitely shows on the court.”

The tiebreaker set went as one would’ve predicted. Neither team held a lead larger than 1 in the first half, though Indiana held an 8-7 lead at the intermission.

The Hawkeyes quickly reclaimed a lead, however, pulling ahead, 10-9, on an error by Indiana. A Dietz service ace and Blomberg kill put Iowa ahead 12-9 and prompted yet another Indiana time-out. The Hoosiers used a 3-0 run to knot the set at 12.

The set was then tied at 14 and 15, before Iowa took a 16-15 lead and sealed the victory 17-15.

“It was pretty crazy, but it was great to close it out like that,” Dietz said. “We kind of got away from ourselves in the fourth set, but to be able to bring that momentum into the fifth set says a lot about our team.”

Follow @KyleFMann for news, updates, and analysis about the Iowa volleyball team.