Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Close Out Road Campaign At Illinois and Northwestern
11/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2006
Illinois and Northwestern Game Notes
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The Indiana volleyball team will wrap up the road portion of its schedule when it travels to Big Ten foes Illinois and Northwestern this weekend. The Hoosiers will face off against the Illini on Friday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. ET and have an 8 p.m. ET match on Saturday, Nov. 18, with the Wildcats.
LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana volleyball team was defeated by Michigan, 3-0 (30-20, 30-21, 30-28), on Saturday, Nov. 11, in University Gym. The Hoosiers were led by Erica Short with 12 kills. She also had two digs, one solo block and one block assist. Gabrielle Allison tallied nine kills while Lauren Ditteon added eight of her own. Juli Pierce led the Hoosiers on defense with 14 digs, while Ditteon and Sara Diehl each tallied six.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 14-12 overall and is now 5-11 against Big Ten opponents. The Illini are also 6-6 overall in Huff Hall and 2-6 in the conference at home.
Offensively, the Illini are led by Kayani Turner with 371 kills. She averages 4.64 kills per game and is followed in that category by Vicki Brown, who averages 3.75 kills per game. Brown is also the other Illinois player to tally more than 300 kills on the season, bringing 330 into the matchup. Lizzie Bazzetta controls the offense for Illinois, averaging 13.64 assists per game.
On defense, Ashley Edinger leads the team with 436 digs, an average of 4.79 per game. Meghan Macdonald controls the block for the Illini, having stopped 97 balls on the season (16 solo blocks, 81 block assists), and she is closely followed by Brown wtih 93 (19 solo, 74 assists).
The Illini lead the all-time series between the two teams, 47-15-1. Earlier this season, Illinois took the first matchup between the two schools, 3-1 (26-30, 30-24, 30-16, 30-20), in University Gym.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern enters the weekend with a record of 13-12 overall and is 7-9 in the conference. The Wildcats are 8-5 overall in Welsh-Ryan Arena and have a mark of 3-5 at home against Big Ten opponents.
Offensively, Northwestern is led by Lindsay Anderson with 330 kills. She averages 3.51 kills per game and is followed in that category by Courtnie Paulus with an average of 2.85. Paulus also has tallied 271 kills entering the weekend, the second-highest total on the team. Stephanie Jurivich controls the offense with an average of 11.14 assists per game.
On defense, Kate Nobilio leads the team with 457 digs and has an average of 4.81 per game. On the block, Chelsy Hyser has 117 total blocks (21 solo, 96 assists) to lead the squad, while Brittney Aldridge is second with a total of 108 (13 solo, 95 assists).
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 28-23. Earlier this season, Northwestern captured the first meeting of the season between the two teams, 3-1 (30-22, 25-30, 30-23, 30-18), at University Gym.
DIEHL NAMED FIRST TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Senior defensive specialist Sara Diehl picked up her second-consecutive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V volleyball honor, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Nov. 9. Diehl earned first team honors after being recognized on the third team during her junior season. In addition to her now two All-District academic honors, the business major is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
JAMMING THE GYM
Against then-No. 13 Ohio State on Sept. 30, Indiana set a new attendance record at University Gym. During the "Jam The Gym" promotion, the Hoosiers welcomed 1,362 fans to the match. That number broke the previous all-time mark, 1,267, which had been set on Oct. 21, 2005, against Purdue.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Sara Diehl stands in 12th place on the all-time career digs list at IU. The Bloomington, Ind., native has 823 digs entering the weekend. She trails Michelle McElroy for 11th place on the list by 59 digs. McElroy, who lettered for the Hoosiers between 1991-95, finished her career with 882.
SETTING NEW MARKS
In IU's victory over then-No. 19 Michigan on Sept. 22, Indiana recorded 23 total blocks, the third-best performance in the program's history. It was also the most blocks in a five-game match in Indiana history. The 10 solo blocks recorded by the team also stand in a tie for fourth in program history and tie the most ever in a five-game match.
Emily Zulauf set a new career-high with 14 kills, shattering her previous career best (eight), which was set the previous weekend against Mercer. Erica Short and Annie Moddrell each had three solo blocks in the win, which tied them with former Hoosier Rachel Gerling for first on the all-time list in five-game matches.
DEFENDING THE NET
The Big Ten Conference named junior middle blocker Annie Moddrell its Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25. The honor was the first of Moddrell's career.
The Freeburg, Ill., native helped the Hoosiers to a split in the first weekend of Big Ten play, including opening with an upset of No. 19 Michigan. The win over the Wolverines marked the first time since 2003 that Indiana had opened the conference slate with a victory.
In the win over Michigan, Moddrell was part of an Indiana team that tallied 23 blocks, which marked the third-best total in program history. Her three solo blocks against the Wolverines were part of IU's 10 solo blocks that equaled the Hoosiers' five-game match school record. Along with sophomore Erica Short, who also had a trio, Moddrell's three solo blocks tied her with former Hoosier Rachel Gerling for first all-time in five-game matches.
In the closing match of the weekend, Moddrell had 10 kills, one solo block and five block assists against Michigan State. For the weekend, she totaled 18 blocks and posted 17 kills on .261 hitting.
SUCCESSFUL OPENERS
14 up, 14 down. The Hoosiers improved to a perfect 14-0 in season openers under head coach Katie Weismiller after defeating Akron in three games (30-24, 30-28, 30-21) on Aug. 25. 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.
RAKING IN THE HONORS
Senior Lauren Ditteon was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 West Virginia Tournament. The junior, who was also named the IU Student-Athlete of the Week following her performance at the tournament, wrapped up her three matches with 33 kills and just five errors in 68 attempts for a .412 hitting percentage on the weekend.
In addition to Ditteon's honor, sophomore Erica Short and senior Sara Diehl were named to the West Virginia Tournament All-Tournament Team. Short was also named to the All-Tournament team following the TIS Bookstore Invitational and the Marriott Flyer Invitational.
DID YOU KNOW?
Indiana's five-match winning streak to open the season marked only the fourth time in the Katie Weismiller era that the Hoosiers had captured their first five or more matches. The feat had previously been accomplished in 2000 (seven), 1999 (nine) and 1997 (15). All five of those victories this year were 3-0 sweeps, the first time that feat had occurred in Indiana volleyball history.
500 WINS
With its win over Oakland on Aug. 26, Indiana notched its 500th win as a program. Indiana entered the season with 498 wins in the school's history.
SAME PLACE, NEW FEEL
When the Hoosiers take to the court in University Gym, the building may be the same, but the playing surface is brand new. This fall season marked the debut of the new state-of-the art hardwood playing surface, a change from the SportsCourt floor that had been part of the facility since IU Volleyball began calling the facility home in 1996.
BATTLING THE BIGS
According to the CSTV/AVCA poll, Indiana has six ranked opponents on its schedule this season. Big Ten foes Penn State (No. 5), Purdue (No. 23), Wisconsin (No. 10), Ohio State (No. 19) and Minnesota (No. 12) are all in the top 25, as is early-season foe LSU (No. 11).
SIXTH TIME'S A CHARM
The Indiana volleyball team earned the prestigious Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2005-06 season.
It is the sixth time that IU has been awarded the honor and the second season in a row. The Hoosiers, who also won the award in 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2004-05, are the only Big Ten volleyball program to earn the honor in 2005-06.
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 during the school year.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Several promotions will highlight the remaining home matches on Indiana's schedule. The Friday Four Pack will be available to all IU Volleyball fans on Nov. 24, when the Hoosiers take on Wisconsin. For $20, fans receive four tickets to the match and four drinks and four boxes of popcorn from the Chartwells concessions stand. Friday Four Packs can either be purchased at the door or by calling 866-IUSPORTS.
Friday, Nov. 24, will also mark Parents Night, as all of the Hoosier parents will be celebrated prior to the match. Saturday, Nov. 25, will be Senior Night, as Sara Diehl and Anne Grabow will play their final match in University Gym that evening.
