Indiana University Athletics
INDIANA FINISHES REGULAR SEASON
11/24/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
INDIANA FINISHES REGULAR SEASON
--16-11 Hoosiers fifth in Big Ten Conference
UP NEXT -- The Indiana volleyball team will finish the regular season on the road at Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State. Friday's match in Columbus will be at 7 p.m. and the season finale with the Nittany Lions will be at 7:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE HOOSIERS -- Indiana (16-11 overall, 9-9 Big Ten) swept Minnesota on Friday 15-13, 15-8, 15-9. In game one, Indiana spotted Minnesota leads of 6-0 and 10-5 before coming back and winning. Defense was the key for the Hoosiers as they put up 15 blocks and had 58 digs. The Hoosiers held Minnesota's top hitter, Nicole Branagh, to a .091 hitting percentage. The team controls its own destiny for the postseason with remaining matches at Ohio State and Penn State.
CARTER NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT -- Junior middle blocker Cydryce Carter was named to the GTE Academic All-District V Second Team this week. On the court, Carter is averaging 0.94 blocks per game to lead the team. In the classroom, the Houston native is majoring in biology and hopes to enter medical school after graduation.
RECEIVING VOTES -- The Hoosiers received five 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 12-2 when playing at home in University Gym this season compared to a 4-9 record on the road. The 12 home victories are a new school. The old record of 10 was set in 1988.
THE LAST TIME -- The last and only appearance for Indiana in the NCAA tournament was in 1995. The Hoosiers traveled to Fairfax, Va. and lost in the first round to George Mason 15-8, 15-10, 15-13. Seniors Jen Magelssen and Melissa Rooney were freshmen on that team. Magelssen had 11 kills and 17 digs while Rooney had a single kill in the first round loss.
COACH KATIE WEISMILLER -- Katie Weismiller is in her sixth season as Indiana's head coach with an 91-96 (.487) school record and an eight-year career mark of 141-120 (.540). 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.
ON OHIO STATE -- The Ohio State Buckeyes (14-13, 7-11 Big Ten) are in a three-way tie with Minnesota and Purdue for sixth place in the Big Ten. All three of those teams are two games behind Indiana with two to play. They split last weekend, defeating Michigan on Friday and losing to Michigan State on Saturday. Junior Rosie Snow leads the team with five kills and 2.44 digs per game. The outside hitter is ranked third in the conference in kills per game. Head coach Jim Stone is finishing his 17th at Ohio State and owns a 388-169 record. Earlier this season, Indiana swept the Buckeyes 17-15, 15-4, 15-11 in Bloomington. The Series: Ohio State leads the all-time series 27-14.
NO. 2 PENN STATE -- Penn State (28-0, 18-0 Big Ten) wrapped up their fifth Big Ten title and third in a row last weekend with wins over Michigan State and Michigan. The Nittany Lions will be looking to finish the regular season undefeated and become the only school to ever accomplish that feat twice. The were 42-0 in 1990. They are led by All-American setter Bonnie Bremner. The junior averages 11.75 assists and 2.15 kills per game. Outside hitter Lauren Cacciamani averages 3.63 kills per game. Head coach Russ Rose is in his 20th season and has a 666-119 record. Penn State swept Indiana earlier this season 15-9, 15-6, 15-6. They will play Northwestern on Friday before hosting the Hoosiers on Saturday. The Series: Indiana has never beaten Penn State as the Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 17-0.
DIGGING IN -- As the conference race heats up, so has the Hoosiers back row defense. Currently IU is third in the league for digs, averaging 14.64 per game and lists two players in the top 10 for digs. Jen Magelssen is fourth in the conference, averaging 2.71 digs per game. Erin Heimann ranks seventh with 2.62 digs per game.
LEADERBOARD WATCH -- Senior Jen Magelssen already holds the school record for career service aces (192) and digs (1,277) and is presently in pursuit of the school record for kills. Currently she ranks second on the all-time list with 1,355 kills and needs just 27 more to become the program's career leader.
ONE MORE -- Jen Magelssen broke the school record for double-figure kill matches in a career against Northwestern. The record, which was 73 matches, was set by former Hoosier Liz Ambrustmacher (1985-88). Magelssen, now with 74 double-figure kill matches, already holds the school record for double-digit dig matches with 65.
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. 21 Illinois. Indiana and Minnesota are receiving votes.
HOOSIERS IN THE BIG TEN (11/24/98)
Team
Hitting Percentage 6th (.233)
Assists 2nd (14.98)
Kills 3rd (16.70)
Digs 3rd (14.64)
Blocks 7th (2.20)
Service Aces 6th (1.62)
Individual
Hitting Percentage
19th Ryann Connors .269
Assists
2nd Kristina Sanderson 13.70
Kills
4th Ryann Connors 4.87
Digs
4th Jen Magelssen 2.73
7th Erin Heimann 2.62
Service Aces
6th Jen Magelssen 0.34
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. In 1998, 9,854 fans 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.
