Indiana University Athletics
2005 Volleyball Year in Review
12/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 1, 2005
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - IUHOOSIERS.com takes a look back on the 2005 Indiana University Volleyball season that featured senior middle blocker Mandy Eberle setting single-season records for block assists and total blocks as well as freshman outside hitter Erica Short breaking the freshman kill record.
EBERLE SETS SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS FOR BLOCK ASSISTS AND TOTAL BLOCKS
Eberle's nine block assists against Wisconsin, which tied her own tally against Evansville on Sept. 27 for the most in a four-game match in University Gym history, also broke Indiana's single-season block assists record and total blocks record. Previously, IU standout Cydryce Carter (1997) and Katie Pollom (2002) owned the block assists standard with 139, while Pollom held the total blocks mark with 153 in 2002. Eberle's block assist tally wound up at 140, while her total blocks ended at 155. Notably, Pollom attended the contest to witness the record-breaking performance.
SHORT SETS FRESHMAN KILL RECORD
Erica Short eclipsed Indiana's single-season freshman kill mark against Purdue on Nov. 19. The Orrville, Ohio, product finished with 398 putaways, which cleared the former record total of 364 recorded by Christina Archibald in 2001.
GREAT WALL OF ANNIE
Annie Moddrell intimidated opposing hitters with her stout defense at the net. The Freeburg, Ill., native finished eighth in the league in blocks per game with 1.22.
GREAT WALL OF ANNIE II
Annie Moddrell became just the sixth member of the double-digit block assist club at Indiana with 10 against Furman on Sept. 10. The tally tied her for third-most in school history.
BOMBS AWAY
IU had a tremendous serve game this season. Consequently, the Hoosiers placed third in the Big Ten with 166 service aces and a 1.43 ace per game average.
HOLDING SERVE
Rachel Gerling tied for first in the Big Ten with 51 service aces.
ROCKING WITH THE ROCK
Rachel "Rock" Gerling led the team in service aces (51). Additionally, she finished second on the team in kills (366) and digs (328).
GERLING, DIEHL NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Rachel Gerling and Sara Diehl each picked up ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V volleyball honors as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Nov. 10. Gerling earned second team accolades, while Diehl picked up third team recognition.
400 MATCHES
When Indiana took the court against Penn State on Nov. 4, head coach Katie Weismiller coached her 400th-match at the helm of the Hoosier program.
DEALING ACES
During the IU Credit Union Invitational, IU dropped the hammer in the service department. Against Western Kentucky, the team recorded 15 aces, which tied for the fourth-most in school history and third in a five-game match.
DEALING ACES II
Lauren Ditteon's five aces against Western Kentucky tied her for eighth all-time on the single-match list. Additionally, Rachel Gerling amassed five aces against North Florida on Sept. 9.
BLOCK PARTY
IU turned up its block game against Arkansas State, as the Hoosiers posted a three-game school-record 27 block assists in a 3-0 whitewashing of the Lady Indians. Meanwhile, IU's 14.5 total team blocks is now the second-most in a three-game match in school history.
BLOCK PARTY II
Rachel Gerling's three solo blocks against Dayton on Sept. 17 set the University Gym record for a five-game match. Meanwhile, Mandy Eberle's nine block assists in back-to-back matches against Michigan and Evansville are facility records.
STREAK STOPPING
With Indiana's triumph over Michigan on Sept. 24, the Hoosiers snapped a four-match losing streak to the Wolverines that dated back to Nov. 9, 2002. Additionally, IU's win over Illinois on Oct. 22 broke a five-match losing streak to the Illini that dated back to Oct. 18, 2002.
GERLING NAMED BIG TEN DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rachel Gerling garnered the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award for the week ending Sept. 25. With the inception of the award this year, Gerling is the first Hoosier to earn the nod.
SUCCESSFUL SEASON OPENERS
13 up, 13 down. The Hoosiers improved to a perfect 13-0 in season openers in 2005 under head coach Katie Weismiller after defeating Indiana State in three games. In its 31st season, Indiana has compiled a 24-7 record in season-opening matches. IU's last loss in a season-opening match was a three-game sweep at Kentucky on Sept. 4, 1992.
BACK-TO-BACK ALL-TOURNEY
In a vote by the participating coaches, Annie Moddrell and Rachel Gerling earned spots on the IU Credit Union All-Tournament team. The duo then earned its second straight recognition as members of the Bama Bash All-Tournament team.
ALL-TOURNEY TROPHY HAUL
Rachel Gerling earned her third consecutive all-tournament team selection with a stellar effort at the Winthrop Invitational. Meanwhile, Erica Short earned her first such accolade with recognition on the Winthrop Invite team as well.
TIS BOOKSTORE ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
Laura Holm and Erica Short earned spots on the TIS Bookstore All-Tournament Team. The honor was Short's second in a row and Holm's first as a Hoosier.
THEY GROW THEM BIG
With an incoming freshman class that features four players more than six feet tall (Carrie Deal; 6-0, Ashley Shaufler; 6-4, Erica Short; 6-2; and Emily Zulauf; 6-1), Indiana now has eight Hoosiers that eclipse the six-foot mark. Current Hoosiers Gabrielle Allison (6-1), Mandy Eberle (6-1), Rachel Gerling (6-0), and Annie Moddrell (6-1) all stand over six-feet tall. The last time IU had so many players measuring more than six-feet tall was in 2003 with eight as well.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
For the second consecutive season, IU has only two seniors on its roster. Mandy Eberle and Rachel Gerling will be looked to for leadership with such a young squad.
PORCH ARRIVES IN BLOOMINGTON
Dottie Porch, who spent the past three seasons as a co-coach with the Indianapolis Juniors squads and as a member of the WTHR-TV team in the Circle City, is in her first year as assistant volleyball coach at Indiana, head coach Katie Weismiller announced. Porch replaced former IU standout and assistant volleyball coach Cydryce Carter.
HITTING THE BOOKS
IU earned the prestigious Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2004-05 season, as announced by the AVCA on Aug. 5.
"We take great pride in the fact that with the IU volleyball program our players are students first," Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller said. "This award is an honor and demonstrates how much effort the Hoosiers put into their classwork."
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Nominating head coaches must be AVCA members.
NEWCOMER INFUSION
Weismiller brought in a huge 2005 freshmen class. A total of 10 newcomers: Jessica Batliner (Floyds Knobs, Ind./Our Lady of Providence), Carrie Deal (Bloomington, Ind./North), Laura Katherine de Lambert Holm (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North), Jessica Langert (Downers Grove, Ill./Montini Catholic), Christine Nolen (Spokane, Wash./Saint George's), Kari Morgenstein (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson), Hana Ros (Muncie, Ind./Burris), Ashley Shaufler (Bristol, Wis./Westosha Central), Erica Short (Orrville, Ohio/Orrville) and Emily Zulauf (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) joined IU for the 2005-06 campaign.
ENTERING THE RECORD BOOKS
Several Hoosiers entered the IU record books this season:
Career:
• - Mandy Eberle finished seventh on the career block assists list with 256.
• - Mandy Eberle earned seventh on the total block list with 284.
• - Laura Holm owns 10th place with 1,077 career assists.
Single-Season:
• - Mandy Eberle's 144 block assists this season broke the previous school record of 139 held by Cydryce Carter (1997) and Katie Pollom (2002).
• - Mandy Eberle's 155 total blocks set the school standard previously held by Katie Pollom with 153 in 2002.
• - Rachel Gerling's 51 service aces tied her for fifth.
• - Sara Diehl's 360 digs this season now stands as the seventh-most in school history.
• - Annie Moddrell's .291 hitting percentage is the eighth-best in school history.
• - Annie Moddrell recorded 106 block assists to tie for ninth on the single-season list.
Freshman:
• - Erica Short blasted by the freshman kills record with 398. Christina Archibald previously held the standard with 364.
• - Laura Holm's 1,077 assists stands as the third-most recorded by a freshman.
