Indiana University Athletics
IU Athletics December Month in Review
1/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
Jan. 4, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The month of December offered plenty of successful moments for IU Athletics. To pay tribute to the impressive exploits offered by the Hoosiers, IUHOOSIERS.com hits rewind to highlight what IU had to offer this past month.
Field Hockey
• - Field hockey had a program-record 13 players named to the Big Ten's Academic squad. Additionally, head coach Amy Robertson earned the National Field Hockey Coaches Association's West Region Coach of the Year.
Men's Basketball
• - The Hoosiers went 5-1 during the month of December, including a four-game winning streak to cap the month. A dominating 79-53 victory over then-No. 15 Kentucky on Dec. 10 in the RCA Dome highlighted the month. The 26-point win also was the largest in series history for the Hoosiers over the Wildcats. Senior forward Marco Killingsworth had 23 points and 11 rebounds in the victory over UK.
• - Sophomore forward D.J. White made his much anticipated return to the hardwood during the month of December. After missing the opening seven games of the season with a broken foot he suffered during the preseason, White returned against Charlotte on Dec. 19. He finished that contest with eight points, five rebounds and two block shots. He earned his first start of the season against the Ball State Cardinals on Dec. 31 and notched 16 points and nine rebounds in a season-high 23 minutes.
• - Sophomore Robert Vaden closed out the month on a hot streak. Over the final two games of the month against Butler and Ball State, the Indianapolis, Ind., native scorched the opposition with career-high efforts of 22 points in each contest. He also was hot from behind the three-point arc, hitting a school record 10 consecutive threes. Against Ball State, Vaden notched a school-record 6-of-6 effort from three-point range. He bettered the previous single-game school-record (5-of-5) performances by Kyle Hornsby (Michigan, Feb. 17, 2002) and Keith Smart (Ohio State, Jan. 4, 1987). Following his performance against Ball State, Vaden earned Big Ten Player of the Week.
• - In the NCAA Division I statistical rankings released on Jan. 2, 2006, the Hoosiers topped the country in field-goal percentage (.541) and three-point field-goal percentage (.492).
Men's Swimming and Diving
• - The No. 11 Indiana men's swimming and diving team tamed the No. 17 Northwestern Wildcats in a 161-139 conquest in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 2. Overall, the Hoosiers claimed 11 titles to improve to 4-2 (2-1 Big Ten) on the season. Remarkably, junior Colin Russell turned in a stellar time of 1:35.50 to break his own school record in the 200-yard freestyle and punch his ticket to Atlanta, Ga., for the NCAA Championships March 23-25 with an A-cut time.
• - Senior Sergiy Fesenko snapped Russell's school-record in the 400-meter freestyle on Dec. 8 with an astounding fifth-place time of 3:40.92 in the final heat at the 2005 European Short Course Championship. Fesenko turned in another solid performance at the 2005 European Short Course Championship on Dec. 10. In the grueling 1500-meter freestyle, the Kiev, Ukraine product finished with a ninth-best time of 14:53.23.
• - Indiana head coach Ray Looze and the Indiana University swimming and diving program announced the signing of three student-athletes for the 2006-07 academic year. Chris Oleksiak (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove), Jensen Ried (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Springs) and Drew Sease (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) will look to impact Indiana beginning with the 2006-07 campaign. Meanwhile, head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber and the Indiana diving team announced the signing of David Piercy (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) for the 2006-07 academic year.
Women's Basketball
• - The Indiana women's basketball team had a lot to be happy about in the month of December. The Hoosiers won five of their seven games during the month, four of which were on the road. IU also opened up Big Ten play with a win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Dec. 29, marking the first time it had won a conference opener since the 2001-02 season and the first time it had beat the Hawkeyes since 2002-03.
Women's Swimming and Diving
• - The No. 18 Indiana women's swimming and diving team closed out Northwestern, 159-141, in Evanston, Ill., with a relay win in the final race of the evening on Dec. 2. The Hoosiers captured seven titles to improve to 5-2 (3-1 Big Ten) on the season. Freshman Allison Kay, junior Annica Lofstedt and junior Leila Vaziri led IU with three titles each.
• - Indiana head coach Ray Looze and the Indiana University swimming and diving program announced the signing of nine student-athletes for the 2006-07 academic year. Presley Bard (Napa, Calif./Napa), Brittany Barwegen (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior), Emma Berry (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwestern), Ashley Jones (Joliet, Ill./Minooka Community), Emily Lanteigne (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), Cassie Luhrsen (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township), Emily Porteous (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), Alyssa Rosinko (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Amilee Smith (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) will look to impact Indiana beginning with the 2006-07 campaign. Meanwhile, head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber signed Brittney Feldman (Indianapolis, Ind./Broad Ripple) and Amy Korthauer (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) during the early signing period.
Wrestling
• - The Hoosiers had yet another strong showing to end 2005 and are currently riding a five-match win streak entering the New Year. IU opened the month of December with its first dual action at the Hoosier Duals on Dec. 10. Falling to IU's confident lineup were Eastern Illinois (36-3) and Gardner Webb (37-3). The Hoosiers continued their streak with wins over Southern Illinois (37-12) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (45-4) at the FITE Duals on Dec. 18. After dismissing its first opponent at the FITE Duals, Indiana eyed its first win against a ranked opponent in then-No. 21 Northern Illinois. The Huskies, however, were no match for the Hoosiers as Indiana handed them their second loss of the year, 28-9. The year ended for the Hoosiers at the 44th-annual Midlands Championships, where senior Brady Richardson led the IU grapplers with a third-place finish at 197 pounds. Overall, Indiana medaled five at the event and finished eighth as a team.
