Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Earn NCAA Bid
12/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
December 1, 2002
Bloomington, Ind. - After last evening's 3-1 home loss vs. Illinois, tonight's NCAA Selection Show, which was broadcast live on ESPNNEWS at 9:00 p.m. EST, took on added significance as Indiana sat squarely on the bubble for an invitation to the tournament.The entire volleyball squad viewed the announcement of the pairings at a Bloomington restaurant and after 48 of the 64 teams had been announced, the team sat in nervous silence as seven other Big Ten teams had already been announced. The calm didn't last long as INDIANA appeared on the large screen television and the team erupted into song and dance.
The Hoosiers (20-12 overall, 10-10 Big Ten), who will play in the Pacific Regional, open the tournament with a match against Texas (22-8 overall, 13-7 Big Twelve) at Tucson, Ariz., on Thursday. The winner of that match plays the Arizona/Texas-Arlington winner in the second round on Friday.
"Certainly, the Big Ten had a tremendous regular season and we are proud to be one of eight teams representing the Conference in the NCAA Tournament," said head coach Katie Weismiller. "We're excited about playing Texas. They are traditionally one of the top teams in the Big Twelve Conference and consistently made the Elite 8 throughout the 1990s, including an appearance in the NCAA finals."
The Big Ten Conference, which maintained the second-best RPI in the country at the conclusion of the regular season, was originally expected to have six or seven teams invited to the 64-team bracket. That was, until three teams--Northwestern, Michigan, and Indiana--finished in a sixth-place tie. It was expected to place the tournament committee in a quandary as it had to decide to invite five, six, seven, or eight teams. In the end, eight Big Ten teams earned NCAA bids, tying the PAC-10 for the most invitations.
Junior middle blocker Melissa Brewer (Bloomington, Ind./North), sophomore outside hitter Christina Archibald (Belleville, Ill./West) and sophomore setter Victoria Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) lead the Hoosiers. In the regular season, with 539 kills, Archibald tied Indiana's single-season kill mark (Anne Eastman, 539 in 1994). Zimmerman is Indian's single-season record holder in assists with 1,711 and is among the top 10 in the nation in that category, while Brewer, a two-time Verizon Academic All-Region selection, leads the Hoosiers with a .312 hitting percentage.
The Longhorns are led by sophomores Kathy Hahn and Mira Topic, the latter of whom leads the squad with 475 kills.
Indiana last made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1999, winning at Clemson in the opening round , before falling to Northern Iowa.
The Hoosiers and Longhorns last met on September 7, 1990, with Texas defeating Indiana, 3-0. Texas leads the all-time series 2-0.
Players Mentioned
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