Indiana University Athletics
INDIANA COMPLETES SEASON 20-11
1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
INDIANA COMPLETES SEASON 20-11
Hoosiers advance to second round NCAAs
SEASON WRAP -- For the second-straight year and the third time in the last five seasons, the Indiana volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers, who finished the season 20-11 overall and 10-10 in the Big Ten Conference, defeated No. 16 Clemson in the NCAAs before falling to No. 17 Northern Iowa in the second round.
THE NCAAs -- Indiana upset No. 16 Clemson 15-9, 11-15, 15-5, 15-12 in the first round of the tournament held in Clemson, S.C. Three Hoosiers tallied double-figure kill totals in the match, led by junior Amanda Welter's 25 kills. Hillary Toivonen and Jill Mudge added 16 and 13 kills apiece, respectively. Against No. 17 Northern Iowa, the Hoosiers lost 15-17, 15-10, 10-15, 14-16 as Toivonen led five Hoosiers with double-kill totals, collecting a career-high 25.
FOR THE SEASON -- Senior Outside hitter Ryann Connors led the Hoosiers' attack all season, averaging 3.84 kills per game. Teammate Amanda Welter followed with a 3.67 kill per game average. Welter also led the team with a .262 hitting percentage. Senior Cydryce Carter was tops on the team in digs and blocks, averaging 3.04 digs and 1.14 blocks per game. Senior Erin Heimann led in serving with 50 aces, while freshman Laurie Gardner sets the attack for the Hoosiers, averaging 12.86 assists per game.
COACH KATIE WEISMILLER -- Katie Weismiller completed her seventh season as the Hoosier's head coach. Her record at Indiana now stands at 111-111 (.500), while her eight-year career total is 161-133 (.548). Since coming to IU, Weismiller has led the Hoosiers to three postseason NCAA Tournament appearances, the program's first-ever NCAA tournament win and the school's first Top 25 ranking. Prior to coming at 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.
BIG TEN PLAY -- The Hoosiers won their last three matches of the season to put themselves in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten final standings. Indiana used a must-win situation down the stretch to put together wins over Michigan, Iowa and then No. 20 Minnesota in the season finale.
BIG TEN TOUGHNESS -- Arguably the nation's top volleyball conference, the Big Ten garnered the most tournament bids in NCAA history with eight teams earning postseason tournament berths. No. 1 Penn State, the 1999 Big Ten Champions, led the way by winning the school's first-ever volleyball national title. Joining Indiana and Penn State in the tournament were Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan.
BIG TEN ALL-FRESHMEN -- Redshirt freshman Laurie Gardner was named to the 1999 Big Ten All-Freshmen Team. In just her first season of collegiate competition, Gardner inked her name in the record books by serving up 1,183 assists which ranks seventh all-time for career assists and sixth for assists in a single season. Gardner is the only freshman in school history to break the 1,000 assists mark in her first season.
HONORABLE MENTION -- Senior Ryann Connors was named to the All-Big Ten Honorable Mention team. Connors became the all-time school record holder for career kills Oct. 29 when she passed former Hoosier standout Jen Magelssen's 1,387 career kills (1995-98). The 5-11 outside hitter completed her IU career with 1,533 kills. Connors also set a new school record for double-figure kill matches with 78.
SMARTY PANTS -- Eight of Indiana's players earned academic All-Big Ten honors. Seniors Cydryce Carter (3.73/biology) and Laura Mettes (3.24/sports marketing and management) earned their third conference academic honors while Laura Dewitz (3.26 psychology), Erin Heimann (3.32/teacher prep) and Kristina Sanderson (3.45/sport management) were named for the second-straight year and Joanna Amstutz (3.43/criminal justice), Laurie Gardner (3.60/business) and Crecia Keithley (3.22/university division) each earned their first academic All-Big Ten honors.
CARTER EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONOR -- Senior middle blocker Cydryce Carter was named to the GTE Academic All-District V first team. As a junior, Carter was named to the second team.
MISS CONSISTENCY -- One of the Hoosiers' most consistent players over the course of the season was freshman Hillary Toivonen. The 5-10 outside hitter collected 329 kills to go along with 259 digs. She also tallied 15 double-figure kill matches and 14 double-figure dig matches.
GOING FOR THE ACE -- Indiana proved to be a tough serving team, averaging 1.80 aces per game. The Hoosiers ranked first in the Big Ten and out-aced their opponent 203-125. Senior Erin Heimann led the squad and was second in the league with 50 aces.
BALANCED ATTACK -- Although Ryann Connors and Amanda Welter were keyed as IU's two top guns, the Hoosiers really featured a very balanced attack with five players collecting over 200 kills. They were: Welter (415), Connors (376), Hillary Toivonen (329), Cydryce Carter (240) and Jill Mudge (242).
THE BIG HURT -- Right side hitter Amanda Welter led the Hoosiers with 415 kills and a .262 attack percentage. Welter had an impressive junior campaign, being named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week, MVP of both the Florida State Classic and Duke Invitational and was voted to the HoosierTimes.com Invitational all-tournament team.
FAST STARTS -- Indiana's nine-straight wins through nonconference play marked the program's best start since the 1997 season when the Hoosiers ran their record to 15-0 for the school's longest winning streak.
CAPTAINS -- Seniors Cydryce Carter and Kristina Sanderson co-captained the Hoosiers in 1999.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK -- Right side hitter Amanda Welter
was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week Sept. 6 for her weekend
performance at the Florida Classic. Welter averaged 4.2 kills,
1.8 digs and 1.1 blocks per game while tallying an impressive
.455 hitting percentage for the three matches. The 6-3 sophomore
had highs of 18 kills, seven digs and six blocks in IU's four-game
win over South Carolina. Welter shared the honor with Michigan's
Joanna Fielder.
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