Indiana University Athletics
UNDEFEATED HOOSIERS OPEN BIG TEN SEASON AT ILLINOIS, NORTHWESTERN
9/20/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
UNDEFEATED HOOSIERS OPEN BIG TEN SEASON AT ILLINOIS, NORTHWESTERN
THIS WEEK -- The Hoosiers open Big Ten Conference play this week, traveling to No. 23 Illinois, Wednesday, Sept. 22 and Northwestern Saturday, Sept. 25. Indiana faces the Fighting Illini in Champaign, Ill., and the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill. Both matches start at 7 p.m. (Eastern Standard).
ABOUT THE HOOSIERS -- The Hoosiers begin the 1999 Big Ten season with a perfect 9-0 record. Through nonconference play, the Hoosiers have won three tournament championships, including the Florida State Classic, the Duke Invitational and their own HoosierTimes.com Invitational. Outside hitters Ryann Connors and Amanda Welter lead the IU attack, averaging 5.29 and 4.32 kills per game, respectively.
FAST STARTS -- With nine-straight wins, the Hoosiers are off to their best start since the 1997 season when IU ran its record to 15-0 for the program's longest winning streak.
HOOSIERS AND THE BIG TEN -- The Hoosiers enter Big Ten play as the only undefeated league team. Penn State, Purdue, Michigan and Iowa all have one loss.
LAST WEEK -- Indiana captured its fourth-straight tournament title this past weekend, winning its own HoosierTimes.com Invitational. The Hoosiers defeated Marshall 15-8, 5-15, 15-7, 15-0, Cleveland State 15-17, 15-9, 15-8, 15-10 and Boston College 15-7, 15-7, 15-6. Senior Ryann Connors was named tournament MVP after posting 4.2 kills and 2.2 digs per game, including a 16-kill, 10 digs performance against Marshall and 19 kills against Cleveland State. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Amanda Welter and Cydryce Carter.
KATIE GETS 100th! -- Head Coach Katie Weismiller garnered her 100th Indiana school victory Saturday after the Hoosiers defeated Cleveland State 3-1. In her seventh season at Indiana, Weismiller carries a 101-99 (.505) school record and an eight-year career mark of 151-123 (.551). 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.
ABOUT NO. 23 ILLINOIS -- The fighting Illini host the Hoosiers after compiling a 4-2 nonconference record. Senior middle blocker Betsy Spicer leads Illinois with a .403 attack percentage and 3.38 kills per game. Setter Melissa Beitz averages 12.48 assists per game while Sara Sorrell leads the squad in digs with 60. Head Coach Don Hardin is in his fourth season at Illinois and boasts a 56-41 school record. The Series: Illinois leads the all-time series 37-11-1. Last season the two teams split play with each winning on their home court.
NORTHWESTERN INFO -- The Wildcats picked up their first two wins of the season this past weekend, defeating LSU and Oklahoma in the Wildcat Classic. The squad will be looking to improve on their 2-8 record when they begin Big Ten play Friday against Illinois. Northwestern boasts a balanced attack which is led by Carmen Burbach's 3.03 kills per game. Kitty Owen follows her with 2.78 kills per game. Head coach Kevin Renshler is in his third season with the program and holds a 30-42 school record. The Series: The Hoosiers and Wildcats are tied in the all-time series with 18 wins apiece.
HOME SWEET HOME -- The Hoosiers have won nine-straight matches at home, dating back to Oct. 24, 1998. The nine-consecutive home victories tie the school record. The 1989 and 1990 squads posted nine-straight wins at University Gym.
THE BIG HURT -- Right side hitter Amanda Welter enters Big Ten play fresh off of a very successful nonconference season. Currently the junior leads the squad with 134 kills and a .370 attack percentage. Averaging 4.32 kills per game, she also has 25 blocks. So far this season, she has been named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week, was selected MVP of both the Florida State Classic and Duke Invitational and was voted as a member of the HoosierTimes.com Invitational all-tournament team.
THE TERMINATOR -- Ryann Connors is back to posting big numbers with her cannon-like spikes after recovering from orthoscopic knee surgery and missing the first three matches of the season. This past weekend the 5-11 senior was named tournament MVP of the HoosierTimes.com Invite, tallying 46 kills and 24 digs. For the season, she is averaging 5.29 kills per game.
CAPTAINS NAMED -- Seniors Cydryce Carter and Erin Heimann will co-captain the Hoosiers in 1999.
SPECIAL DELIVERY X TWO -- Kristina Sanderson and Laurie Gardner have been sharing time at the setter position this fall, producing good results. Through nonconference play Sanderson is averaging 13.17 assists per game while Gardner, a redshirt freshman is averaging 10.42 assists per game.
IT'S HER SERVE -- Fans who think that defensive specialist Erin Heimann's greatest asset is her ability to dig out a ball should consider that the 5-6 senior's lethal weapon really is her serving. Currently she has 19 aces and leads the Big Ten with .66 aces per game.
THE ROOKIES -- Freshmen outside hitters Kristen Daly and Hillary Toivonen have been impressive in nonconference play. To date, Toivonen has 40 kills and 51 digs.while Daly has 32 kills and 27 digs.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS -- Both outside hitter Ryann Connors and setter
Kristina Sanderson should become the school record holders in their respective
categories this season with Connors needing only 140 kills to take over
the No. 1 spot and Sanderson, just 273 assists shy of holding the school
assists career mark. Currently, Connors has 1,247 kills and Sanderson 4,121
assists.
