Indiana University Athletics
IU Volleyball Hosts Iowa and #13 Minnesota This Weekend
10/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team begins the second half their Big Ten schedule this weekend at home inside University Gym. A road sweep last week has vaulted the Hoosiers up the conference standings and back into the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The Iowa Hawkeyes visit Bloomington on Friday night with Minnesota coming in for Saturday night's match. Both conference showdowns are set to start at 7 p.m. Live audio broadcasts will begin approximately 10 minutes prior to match time. Visit the volleyball schedule page at IUHoosiers.com to access the free broadcasts.
BLOOMINGTON GALORE
Ashley Benson is a native of Bloomington, Ind., but she will not be the only "Bloomington-nite" in action on Saturday. Minnesota has three players from "other" Bloomingtons as Brooke Dieter and Ashley Suapaia are from Bloomington, Minn., and Katie Vatterrodt hales from Bloomington, Ill.
HERE COME THE HOOSIERS
The Hoosiers are winners of three conference matches in the last two weekends, putting themselves back into the race for an NCAA Tournament berth. Entering this week, Indiana sits in seventh place at 4-6 in Big Ten action, just one game behind Friday's opponent, Iowa, and two back from the top-five of the Big Ten standings.
Mary Chaudoin has been exceptionally hot the past four contests, increasing her assists per set average to 6.38. The Peachtree City, Ga., native is also averaging 1.38 blocks and hitting .304 during the stretch.
BENSON'S PLAY DOES NOT GO UNRECOGNIZED
The Big Ten Conference named Ashley Benson as the Player of the Week on Oct. 27. She also garnered national recognition when Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com) named her their National Player of the Week.
Benson led the Hoosiers to two wins, hitting .412 with 4.1 kills per set as Indiana downed Northwestern and Wisconsin. The sophomore also contributed on defense, adding 1.9 blocks and 1.1 digs per frame. Against the Wildcats, Benson put down 23 kills in the five-set match, hitting at a .455 clip. She also tacked on nine total blocks and eight digs in the victory. At Wisconsin, the Bloomington, Ind., native tallied 14 kills at a .333 average with a pair of digs and eight blocks as Indiana beat the Badgers in Madison for the first time since 1995.
ON A GOOD PACE
Indiana is 22 matches into the regular season and several all-time school records are in danger of being broken. If the following Hoosiers can maintain their current statistical pace, they would find themselves in next season's media guide and the single-season top ten lists: Short with 570 kills (1st), Benson with 186 blocks (1st), and a .300 hitting efficiency (2nd), Caitlin Cox with 377 digs (8th) and Juli Pierce with 369 digs (9th).
Players Mentioned
