Indiana University Athletics
2006 Volleyball Season In Review
12/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 1, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. IUHOOSIERS.com takes a look back on the 2006 Indiana University Volleyball season that featured a variety of records set and awards handed out.
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 two All-District academic honors, the business major was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
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 wrapped up her career in 12th place on the all-time career digs list at IU. The Bloomington, Ind., native finished with 845 digs.
SETTING NEW MARKS
In IU's victory over 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. 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.
With her 12 total blocks in the Michigan match, Moddrell tallied the second-most total stops in program history in a five-game match. She also had 10 total blocks against Ohio State on Oct. 30, tying her with former Hoosier Cydryce Carter as the player with the most stops in a four-game match in University Gym. For the season, Moddrell had 108 block assists, good for ninth all-time in a season in program history.
Sophomore Juli Pierce made her mark in the IU record book as well this season, picking up 381 digs on the year, good for the fourth-best season total in school history. She also tallied 23 digs against Purdue on Oct. 4, the second-best total in a three-game match, and also the most in a three-game contest in University Gym.
Not to be outdone, Short set a three-match University Gym record with her 22 kills against Marshall on Sept. 1. That total is the second-most in program history for a three-game contest. Freshman setter Allison Regas got in on the action as well, picking up 79 block assists on the season, good for the third-best single-season freshman total in IU history.
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 and just the second for a member of the IU program since the inception of the award during the 2005 season.
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.
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
Fourteen 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 31 seasons, 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 teams 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 the win over Oakland on Aug. 26, Indiana notched its 500th win as a program. Indiana entered the season with 498 wins in the program's history.
SAME PLACE, NEW FEEL
When the Hoosiers took to the court in University Gym, the building may have been the same, but the playing surface was 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.
ON THE GRAND STAGE
When the Hoosiers hosted Michigan State on Nov. 11, it was more than just another match. That contest, a 3-0 win for the Spartans, was broadcast on Comcast SportsNet Chicago as part of the Big Ten Conference's 14-match television lineup. Each conference school was featured in action at least once during the season on three different networks. Dave Loane (play-by-play) and Audrey Flaugh (color) called the match for Comcast.
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 was 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, were 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.
