Indiana University Athletics
Volleyball Heads Back On Road To Face Two Ranked Foes
11/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2006
Penn State Ohio State Notes
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The Indiana volleyball team will head out on the road again to take on Big Ten foes Ohio State and Penn State. The Hoosiers will face off against No. 25 Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in the St. John Arena and then head to University City for a 7 p.m. matchup on Saturday, Nov. 4 in the Recreation Building with the No. 3 Nittany Lions.
LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana volleyball team was defeated by Iowa, 3-0 (30-23, 30-25, 30-20), on Saturday, Oct. 28, in University Gym. The Hoosiers were led by Juli Pierce's 20 digs on defense, while Lauren Ditteon chipped in 13 and Caitlin Watts added 12 of her own. Erica Short led IU offensively with 13 kills and was followed by Annie Moddrell, who tallied nine. Caitlin Watts and Sara Diehl each also had one service ace in the match.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions enter the weekend with a 22-1 overall record and an 11-1 mark in Big Ten action. Megan Hodge and Nicole Fawcett lead Penn State with 4.77 and 4.30 kills per game, respectively, and Christa Harmotto chips in 3.01 kills per game, as well. On defense, Roberta Holehouse averages 3.83 digs per game, and three other Nittany Lions average more than 2.00 digs per game. Harmotto and Melissa Walbridge head the blocking charts with 1.57 and 1.56 blocks per game.
Penn State leads the all time series between the two programs, 33-0. The first meeting between the two schools this season was a 3-0 (30-19, 30-23, 30-22) Penn State victory in University Gym on Sept. 29.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
Ohio State has a 15-7 overall record and is 5-7 in the Big Ten entering the weekend. Leading the Buckeyes in kills per game is Anna Szerszen with a 4.46 average. Danielle Meyer ranks second at 4.41, with Briana McCarthy third at 2.64. Defensively, Ami Stevens leads the team with a 3.79 digs-per-game average. Meyer follows her with an average of 2.41 per game, while at the net Kristen Dozier has a team-high 1.08 blocks per game. She has seven solo blocks and 72 block assists for the season. Meghan Simons ranks second on the team at 0.94 with 29 assists, with McCarthy third at 0.81 with five solos and 60 assists.
Ohio State has a 38-22 lead in the series with IU. In Columbus, the Buckeyes are 20-7 and have won the last five matches against the Hoosiers. Earlier this year, the Buckeyes took the first meeting of the season between the two squads, 3-1 (25-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-25), in University Gym.
JAMMING THE GYM
Against 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 810 digs entering this matchup. She trails Michelle McElroy for 11th place on the list by 72 digs. McElroy, who lettered for the Hoosiers between 1991-95, finished her career with 882.
SETTING NEW MARKS
In IU's victory over No. 19 Michigan on Sept. 15, 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 will mark 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.
ON THE GRAND STAGE
The Indiana volleyball match on Nov. 10 against Michigan State will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Chicago (CSN Chicago) as part of the Big Ten Conference's 14-match television lineup, the conference office has announced. The 2006 television schedule will feature each conference school in action at least once during the volleyball season on three different networks.
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. 3), Purdue (No. 14), Wisconsin (No. 10), Ohio State (No. 25) 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. Autograph sessions with will be available following the match with Michigan (Nov. 11).
The Friday Four Pack will be available to all IU Volleyball fans on Nov. 10, when the Hoosiers take on Michigan State. For $20, fans will 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.
