Indiana University Athletics
Volleyball Rolls to Lexington for UK Invitational on Friday
9/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team enters the weekend riding a four-match winning streak and coming off an adidas Classic title. Next up is a four-team invitational hosted by the University of Kentucky, beginning on Friday, Sept. 12. Indiana's first match is with the host Wildcats (6-2) at 7 p.m. Friday night before playing Albany (3-3) and Eastern Kentucky (1-5) on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
Live audio broadcasts will be available for all three contests this weekend right here at IUHoosiers.com. Jeremy Gray is set to call all the action down in Lexington.
All three matches will determine which school has the lead in the all-time series as the Kentucky and and Eastern Kentucky series are tied at 7-7 and 6-6, and Saturday marks the first ever meeting between the Hoosiers and Great Danes of Albany. Indiana has won the most recent match in both series, defeating UK in 1996 (3-0) and EKU in `89 (3-1).
IU TAKES ADIDAS CLASSIC TITLE
With a 3-0 sweep over San Francisco in their last match out in Long Beach and a pair of sweeps to open the adidas Classic, the Cream and Crimson entered last Saturday's contest having won nine straight sets. Indiana then extended that streak to 11 by taking the first two sets versus Louisville. The Cardinals were able to pull even at two sets apiece before Indiana sealed the deal in a 15-12 fifth-set thriller inside Assembly Hall.
Erica Short and Juli Pierce both made the all-tournament squad, in addition to, Ashley Benson. Short was named tournament MVP after racking up 61 kills, eight blocks and 26 digs in the event. Pierce paced the Hoosiers with 49 digs while Benson's 11 blocks and .420 hitting efficiency (39-5-81) were tops on the team.
"BIG E" BREAKS BIG RECORD
Senior Erica Short began the adidas Classic with a record-breaking performance, putting down 24 kills against Valparaiso to mark the highest total ever by a Hoosier in a three-set match. Short's 24th kill not only surpassed the previous record by Anne Eastman (Nov. 11, 1994), but also clinched the IU win as the final point of the match. Even more impressive is the fact that Short racked up her 24 kills in the new 25-point sets rather than the 30-point or non-rally 15-point scoring format that was previously used in NCAA matches.
For the entire weekend, Short paced Indiana with 61 total kills (5.5 kps) to go along with a .292 hitting percentage, eight blocks (0.7 bps) and 26 digs (2.4 dps), earning her the Big Ten Player of the Week award.
BLOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF
Indiana's sweep of San Francisco earlier this season is arguably the best three-set blocking effort in school history. The school record for most blocks in a three-set match is 15 set back in 1996. However, the 14 rejections agaisnt USF were tallied in the new 25-point set era rather than the old 30-points per set format played in previous seasons.
For the season, Ashley Benson's 1.52 blocks per set average are tops in the Big Ten and rank 13th nationally.
SERIAL KILLERS
Indiana has racked up a ton of kills the first two wekes of the season, averaging 14.57 put-aways per set. Erica Short leads the team and the conference with her 5.10 kill/set pace, good for third in the national rankings. As a team, Indiana's 14.57 average slots them second in the Big Ten and ninth on the national level.
LENDING A HELPING HAND
Setting up most of those kills is the duo of Hayley Koetter and Mary Chaudoin. Koetter averages 6.62 assists per set (10th-best in Big Ten) while Chaudoin chips in 5.67 helpers. Indiana's 13.57 team assists/set rank seventh nationally.
MORE RECORD BREAKING COMING SOON
Seniors Juli Pierce and Erica Short are both closing in on career statistical totals that would rank as the greatest in IU Volleyball history. Pierce, who already holds the single-season record for digs with 481 in `07, is nearly certain to etch her name to the top of the career digs list. The former walk-on, is just 45 digs shy of Jen Magelssen (1995-98) and her 1,331 career digs. Pierce is currently third place all-time with her 1,286 digs.
Short has climbed into fourth place on the all-time kills list with 1,442 put-aways. The Orrville, Ohio native enters the weekend 366 kills away from matching Christina Archibald's (2001-04) top mark of 1,808 career kills.
THAT'S NOT ALL...
Sophomore Ashley Benson is also making her case to be placed in the IU record books with her .281 career hitting efficiency. Just 38 matches into her Hoosier career, Benson has connected on 328 kills on 782 attempts with 108 errors. If the Bloomington North High School product can simply maintain her .281 pace for her next 218 attempts (matching the 1,000 attempts min.), she will find herself inside the top-three all-time for career hitting efficiency.
Players Mentioned
