Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Open Season At West Virginia Tournament
8/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 24, 2006
West Virginia Tournament Game Notes
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The Indiana volleyball team opens up the 2006 season at the West Virginia Tournament. The Hoosiers will take on Akron at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25 and will face Oakland and West Virginia in matches on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Successful 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 (30-24, 30-14, 30-18). 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.
The Series
The Hoosiers have never faced their first opponent of the season, Akron, or their third, tournament host West Virginia. The second matchup for IU on the season will be Oakland, whom the Hoosiers have faced just once before. That lone meeting came on Sept. 19, 1998 and was a 3-0 (15-9, 15-5, 15-3) Indiana victory.
500 Wins
With just two victories this season, IU will own 500 total wins as a program. Indiana entered the season with 498 wins in the school's history.
On The Grand Stage
The Indiana volleyball match on Nov. 10 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. The match will be shown the following day, Nov. 11, at 4 p.m. EST on CSN Chicago.
Battling The Bigs
According to the preseason CSTV/AVCA poll, Indiana will be battling five ranked opponents this season. Big Ten foes Penn State (No. 2), Wisconsin (No. 9), Purdue (No. 16), Minnesota (No. 22) and Ohio State (No. 23) all open the season in the top 25.
Senior Leadership
For the third straight season, IU will have only two seniors on its roster. Sara Diehl and Anne Grabow will be looked to for leadership with such a young squad.
A Banner Year
Erica Short eclipsed Indiana's single-season freshman kill mark in 2005, wrapping up her first collegiate season with 398. The previous record was set by Christina Archibald in 2001 with 364. Sara Diehl also posted the seventh-highest dig total in school history with 360. Another returning player who made her mark on the IU record books in 2005 was Anne Moddrell, who's .291 hitting percentage is the eighth-best in school history, and her 106 block assists ties for ninth on the single-season list.
Six In a Row
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.
"I am very excited for the team," said head coach Katie Weismiller. "We have accomplished a very high tradition of academic success, which is wonderful. Also, I am very proud that once again our GPA was one of the top at IU and in the Big Ten for volleyball."
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.
Newcomers
After a season in which Weismiller welcomed 10 newcomers to the Hoosier program, just two new players will take to the court for IU this season. Freshman Allison Regas (Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School) and junior transfer Caitlin Watts (Columbus, Ind./Miami (Ohio)) are both setters who should see playing time for Indiana this season.
Same Place, New Feel
When the Hoosiers open their season in University Gym this fall, the building may look the same, but there will be one large difference. After playing on a multi-purpose SportsCourt floor since the 1996 season, the Hoosiers will play on a brand new, state-of-the-art hardwood surface that was installed in the summer of 2006. Overall, the University Gym has undergone more than half-a-million dollars in renovations since 1996.
