Indiana University Athletics
INDIANA FACES NORTHWESTERN AND MINNESOTA IN HOME FINALE
11/17/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
INDIANA FACES NORTHWESTERN AND MINNESOTA IN HOME FINALE
--14-11 Hoosiers fifth in Big Ten Conference--
UP NEXT -- Indiana will close the regular season at home with matches against Northwestern and Minnesota. The Northwestern match will be Wednesday, Nov. 18 and admission is free. Friday's match against the Golden Gophers is Fan Appreciation Night and Senior Night. Indiana seniors Jen Magelssen, Katie Parmenter, and Melissa Rooney will be honored. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 pm. Admission for Friday is $4 for adults and $1 for children. IU students are admitted free of charge with a valid student ID.
ABOUT THE HOOSIERS -- Indiana (14-11 overall, 7-9 Big Ten) lost a pair of matches at Iowa and No. 8 Wisconsin but remained all alone in fifth place in the league standings. It literally was Friday the 13th in Iowa City as the Hoosiers lost 15-7, 15-11, 15-12 to the Hawkeyes. Iowa won its first Big Ten match of the season by sweeping Indiana. The Hoosiers struggled offensively with only Ryann Connors (20 kills) in double-figure kills. Things didn't get any easier Saturday with No. 8 Wisconsin in Madison. The Badgers held the Hoosiers to a .058 hitting percentage in the 15-10, 15-3, 15-9 sweep. Indiana controls its own destiny for the postseason with matches against Northwestern and Minnesota. Both teams are trailing the Hoosiers in Big Ten standing. The Golden Gophers are a game behind Indiana and the Wildcats are two games back.
RECEIVING VOTES -- The Hoosiers received three votes this week in the latest USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. Previously, Indiana has been ranked as high as 24th in the national poll.
HOME SWEET HOME -- The Hoosiers are 10-2 when playing at home in University Gym this season compared to a 4-9 record on the road. With 10 victories at home, Indiana has tied the school record which was set in 1988.
COACH KATIE WEISMILLER -- Katie Weismiller is in her sixth season as Indiana's head coach with an 87-96 (.475) school record and an eight-year career mark of 137-120 (.533). Prior to coming to Indiana, Weismiller spent two years as the assistant coach at Florida where she helped lead the Gators to the school's first Final Four appearance in 1992. She began her coaching career at St. Louis University, where she was head coach from 1989-91. There, she guided the Billikens to a 50-24 record, and in 1989, the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN -- Like the Hoosiers, Northwestern (15-13, 5-11 Big Ten) lost two games last weekend to Wisconsin and Iowa. On Friday, the Wildcats lost at Wisconsin 3-1, and they were swept Saturday night at Iowa. Senior outside hitter Jessica Holloway leads the Wildcats with 5.8 kills and 3.11 digs per game. Northwestern swept the Hoosiers 15-6, 15-9, 15-4 in Evanston earlier this season. Northwestern is coached by Kevin Renshler. Renshler is in his second season at Northwestern and owns a 28-31 (.475) record. The Series: The all-time series is at 18-18 heading into Wednesday's match.
ON MINNESOTA -- Minnesota (16-11, 6-10 Big Ten) is in a three-way tie for sixth in the Big Ten with Ohio State and Purdue. After suffering losses to Ohio State and No . 2 Penn State the Golden Gophers fell out of the top 25. They are lead by sophomore outside hitter Nicole Branagh with 5.40 kills per game. Of their 11 losses, seven have come to teams ranked in the top 25. Head coach Mike Hebert is in his third season and has 63-32 (.663) record. The Series: Minnesota leads the all-time series 25-10 and has won the last five.
DIGGING IN -- As the conference race heats up, so has the Hoosiers back row defense. Currently IU is fourth in the league for digs, averaging 14.37 per game and lists two players in the top 10 for digs. Erin Heimann ranks fourth with 2.77 digs per game. Jen Magelssen is sixth in the conference, averaging 2.71 digs per game.
LEADERBOARD WATCH -- Senior Jen Magelssen already holds the school record for career service aces (191) and digs (1,256) and is presently in pursuit of the school record for kills. Currently she ranks second on the all-time list with 1,336 kills and needs just 46 more to become the program's career leader.
ONE MORE -- Jen Magelssen tied the school record for double-figure kill matches in a career against Purdue. The record, which is 73 matches, was set by former Hoosier Liz Ambrustmacher (1985-88). Magelssen already holds the school record for double-digit dig matches with 64.
BIG TEN TOUGHNESS -- Led by 1997 NCAA Division I runner-up Penn State, the Big Ten Conference has six teams either ranked or receiving votes in the latest USA TODAY/AVCA Top 25 poll, more than any other conference. Undefeated Penn State is ranked No. 2 and is followed by No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 14 Michigan State, and No. 20 Illinois. Indiana and Minneota are receiving votes.
HOOSIERS IN THE BIG TEN (11/16/98)
Team Rankings
Hitting Percentage: 7th (.231)
Assists: 5th (14.73)
Kills: 4th (16.52)
Digs : 4th (14.37)
Blocks: 11th (1.98)
Service Aces: 6th (1.62)
Individual Rankings
Hitting Percentage: T18th - Ryan Connors .269
Assists: 2nd - Kristina Sanderson 13.52
Kills: 4th - Ryann Connors 4.80
Digs: 4th - Erin Heimann 2.77 and 6th - Jen Magelssen 2.71
Service Aces: T5th - Jen Magelssen 0.36
POWER RANKINGS -- The AVCA/Sagarin Division I Women's Volleyball Power Ratings, which are updated weekly by Jeff Sagarin, can be found at: http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/voll1998.htm.
THROUGH THE TURNSTILE -- Since moving its home matches from Assembly Hall to University Gym in 1996, Hoosier volleyball has become a marquee event in Bloomington. Last season, Indiana set a new school record for attendance with 10,233 fans passing through the gate. In Big Ten competition, the Hoosiers averaged 827 fans per game. With two games remaining, 8,487 fans have watched the Hoosiers at University Gym.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS -- In the Big Ten Conference's preseason poll announced July 20, the Big Ten Volleyball coaches unanimously selected Penn State first in the 1998 pre-season coaches poll. Closely following PSU was last year's co-champion Wisconsin. Indiana was chosen to finish eighth.
