Indiana University Athletics
INDIANA HOSTS FINAL REGULAR SEASON MATCH
11/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
THIS WEEK -- The Indiana volleyball team will finish the regular season at home vs. Iowa and Minnesota Nov. 26-27, respectively. Friday's match against Iowa will begin at 7 p.m., and is designated as .Parents Night. The Hoosiers regular season finale will be Saturday against Minnesota at 7 p.m. Prior to the start of the Minnesota match, IU's five seniors will be honored. Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for children. IU students are admitted free with a valid ID.
ABOUT THE HOOSIERS -- Indiana (17-10 overall, 8-10 Big Ten) finds itself in seventh-place in the league standings after splitting play last weekend. Last Friday the Hoosiers lost a tough road match to Michigan State 15-12. 11-15, 8-15, 12-15. For the Hoosiers, a win would have put them in a tie for fifth place with Ohio State. Three Hoosiers posted double figure kill totals, led by junior Amanda Welter's 16 kills. Senior Ryann Connors collected 15 kills and 16 digs while freshman Hillary Toivonen added 12 kills and 12 digs. Against Michigan on Saturday, IU defeated the Wolverines 10-15, 15-7, 15-10, 15-10. Senior Ryann Connors led the Hoosiers with 19 kills while Amanda Welter added 17 kills, Jill Mudge collected 14 kills, and Hillary Toivonen had 13 kills on the night. Freshman setter Laurie Gardner collected 70 assists for the second time this season. She had 72 last week vs. Illinois. Senior Cydryce Carter led the Hoosiers with 20 digs.
FOR THE SEASON -- Outside hitter Ryann Connors leads the Hoosiers' attack this season, averaging 4.00 kills per game. Teammate Amanda Welter follows with a 3.60 kill per game average. Welter also leads the team with a .261 hitting percentage. Senior Cydryce Carter leads the team in digs and blocks, averaging 3.04 digs and 1.03 blocks per game. Senior Erin Heimann is tops in serving with 48 aces, while freshman Laurie Gardner sets the attack for the Hoosiers, averaging 12.50 assists per game.
COACH KATIE WEISMILLER -- Katie Weismiller is in her seventh season as Indiana's head coach and carries a 108-110 (.495) school record and an eight-year career mark of 158-132 (.545). Since coming to IU, Weismiller has led the Hoosiers to two postseason NCAA Tournament appearances, the program's first-ever NCAA tournament win and the school's first Top 25 ranking.
HEADING DOWN THE STRETCH -- The Hoosiers have just two matches remaining to be played before the NCAA announces its postseason tournament bracket. The Hoosiers will play Iowa and Minnesota at home to end regular season play. The Hoosiers are 9-6 on the road this season and have an 8-4 record at University Gym. To have a chance at receiving a postseason NCAA tournament bid, IU must win both matches this weekend to finish an even 10-10 in the conference.
CARTER EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONOR -- Senior middle blocker Cydryce Carter has been named to the GTE Academic All-District V first team. Last season Carter was named to the second team. On the court, Carter is averaging 2.24 kills, 3.04 digs and a team-leading 1.03 blocks per game. In the classroom, the Houston native is majoring in biology.
IOWA INFO -- The Hawkeyes fell to Penn State and Ohio State last weekend, dropping the squad to 3-15 in league action and 4-21 overall. Currently Iowa is in tenth place in the Big Ten standings. Julie Williams leads the Hawkeye's offensive attack, averaging 4.27 kills per game. She is followed by Sara Meyermann's 3.05 kills and Katie Panhorst's 2.17 kills per game. Head Coach Rita Buck-Crockett is in her second season at Iowa where she holds a 13-41 record with the program. The Series: Indiana leads the overall series 22-18. Last month Indiana defeated Iowa 15-13, 9-15, 15-10, 15-10 in Iowa City.
ABOUT MINNESOTA -- Minnesota lost to Penn State and then defeated Ohio State last weekend at home. The Gopher's record is now 12-3 in conference action and 24-7 overall. Minnesota is presently ranked 20th in the nation. UM sports a balanced attack led by Nicole Branagh who's averaging 5.36 kills per game. Stephani Hagen and Yvonne Wichert are doing well at the net as they are averaging 3.16 and 2.85 kills per game, respectively. Head Coach Mike Hebert is in his fourth season at Minnesota where he hold an 88-42 record with the program. The Series: Minnesota leads the all-time series 26-11. Last month the Gophers defeated the Hoosiers 2-15, 15-9, 9-15, 9-15 in Minneapolis.
BIG TEN TOUGHNESS -- All 10 of the Hoosiers' losses this season have been to Big Ten opponents, including six losses to ranked Big Ten teams.
BREAKING RECORDS -- After having broken the school career-record for kills Oct. 29, Ryann Connors has marked her name in the record books once again. After the weekend, Connors now has 76 career double-figure kill matches which surpassed Jen Magelssen's career mark of 75.
THE SETUP -- In just her first season of collegiate competition, redshirt freshman Laurie Gardner has already inked her name in the record books. Serving up 950 assists this season, Gardner ranks seventh all-time for career assists and is just 45 assists shy of holding the record for the most assists in a single season for a freshman at Indiana.
MISS CONSISTENCY -- One of the Hoosiers' most consistent players this season has been freshman Hillary Toivonen. The 5-10 outside hitter has collected 258 kills to go along with 213 digs this fall. She has also tallied 11 double-figure kill matches and 11 double-figure dig matches. Last week, she had 12 kills and 12 digs vs. Michigan State and 13 kills vs. Michigan.
GOING FOR THE ACE -- Indiana has proven to be a tough serving team this fall, averaging 1.82 aces per game. The Hoosiers rank first in the Big Ten and have out-aced their opponent 177-108. Senior Erin Heimann leads the squad and is second in the league with 48 aces. Other top servers include Cydryce Carter with 24, Hillary Toivonen with 23 and Ryann Connors with 20.
BALANCED ATTACK -- Although Ryann Connors and Amanda Welter are keyed as IU's two top guns, the Hoosiers really feature a very balanced attack with six players collecting over 100 kills this season. They are: Welter (349), Connors (332), Hillary Toivonen (258), Cydryce Carter (211), Jill Mudge (201) and Laura Mettes (113).
CAREER LEADER -- Senior Ryann 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) record. The 5-11 outside hitter now boasts 1,489 career kills.
BY THE NUMBERS -- The Hoosiers currently rank second in the Big
Ten for kills (17.10) and assists (15.30). Individually, Ryann Connors ranks
eighth for kills per game (4.00), Cydryce Carter ranks seventh for digs
(3.04), Laurie Gardner ranks sixth for assists (12.50) and Amanda Welter
ranks 20th in hitting efficiency (..261).
