Indiana University Athletics
IU Volleyball Treks to Illinois This Weekend
10/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University volleyball team (13-5, 2-2 Big Ten) heads to the central time zone this weekend for Big Ten matches at #12 Illinois (10-3, 2-2) and Northwestern (9-7, 0-4). Indiana faces their fourth ranked team in the last three weeks on Saturday, making a visit to Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill. at 7 p.m. central (8 p.m. EST). The Hoosiers will also play a Sunday evening match versus the Northwestern Wildcats (5 p.m. central).
As with all IU Volleyball matches this season, fans can also follow along online via live audio broadcast provided by IUHoosiers.com, free of charge. Dave Leno will handle the play-by-play duties this weekend while Kyle Kuhlman provides color commentary.
In addition, FightingIllini.com will offer a live video feed of Saturday's match.
Indiana has won the last two meetings with Northwestern and leads the all-time series, 31-25. On the other side of the coin, Illinois has come out on top in the last three showdowns with the Hoosiers and owns a 51-16-1 advantage in the all-time series.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Indiana received nine votes in the latest Coaches Top-25 Poll, released Monday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
It has taken Head Coach Sherry Dunbar just over two years to convert a program that won a combined five Big Ten matches in the three seasons prior to her arrival, into a team that is now on the national radar. With nine votes, the Hoosiers are the 39th-highest slotted team in the country.
INSTANT IMPACT
Indiana's Jordan Haverly was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week by the conference office on Monday. It marks the second such weekly accolade for Haverly through the first six weeks of her career. The Cherry Valley, Ill., native won the same distinction for the week of Sept. 14.
Haverly averaged 3.90 kills and 2.25 digs per set last week. She shined brightly on the national stage, putting down 19 kills while hitting .395 in IU's 3-2 win at Purdue which was broadcast on the Big Ten Network. With 10 digs against the Boilermakers as well, Haverly recorded her fifth double-double of the season.
HOOSIER HYSTERIA
Indiana Volleyball is set to kick-start the Hoosier Hysteria festivities once again in 2009 (Oct. 16). Last season, IU Volleyball entertained the Hoosier faithful packed into Assembly Hall with a 3-1 win over Ohio State. In 2007, a crowd of 11,000+ showed up to watch Indiana take on Michigan State, the fourth largest volleyball crowd in the country that season.
This season's Hoosier Hysteria contest will be Indiana's annual "Dig For the Cure" match. There will be plenty of pink on Branch McCracken court that night, capped off with an expected pink libero jersey for Caitlin Cox.
PUR-DON'T, A BOILER SPOILER
In a match that will go down as one of the most exciting in the history of the Indiana-Purdue rivalry, the Hoosier Volleyball team fought and clawed their way to a 15-13 fifth-set winner in West Lafayette.
It was everything one would expect in a rivalry match, going to a fifth set for the third consecutive time. Speaking of the rivalry, the Hoosiers take a half point lead in the 2009-10 Smithville Crimson and Gold Cup standings by coming out on top in the first meeting between the two schools this season.
SATURDAY SUCCESS
ATTENTION ILLINOIS: The Indiana Hoosiers are red-hot on Saturdays, remaining undefeated with an 9-0 record. IU won a pair of Saturday matches in each of the first four weekends before defeating #16 Michigan State in the Big Ten opening weekend.
THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE
Five different Hoosiers can be found in the Big Ten's statistical rankings top-10. Ashley Benson's .406 hitting efficiency is the fifth best in the conference (14th in the nation); and she ranks eighth with 1.14 blocks per set. Taylor Wittmer is slotted fifth (46th nationally) with her 1.20 blocks/set pace.
Jordan Haverly paces the Hoosiers with 3.60 kills per set, which places her sixth in the Big Ten rankings (Benson ranks eighth at 3.54). Caitlin Cox has propelled herself into the conference's top-five for digs, averaging 4.06 digs per set.
In addition, Benson and Haverly are also slotted in the top-10 for points per set; coming in at sixth and eighth, respectively.
BLOCK BRIGADE
Coach Dunbar and Coach Gustin, both middle blockers during their collegiate careers, have the 2009 Hoosiers amongst the nation's elite in terms of blocking through the first six weeks of the season. Indiana's 2.60 stuffs per set average is the 24th highest in the country.
I AM THE GREATEST
Benson can currently say she is the greatest attacker ever at IU in terms of hitting effieincy. She entered the season just .02 percentage points behind Diane Hoereth (1989-90) for the all-time mark, but her hot start has rocketed her to the top spot with a career clip of .314.
DOUBLE DOWN
Freshman Jordan Haverly has recorded five double-doubles already this season, doing so by compiling double-digit kills offensively and digging 10 or more balls in the defensive backcourt. Five other Hoosiers have also tallied a doubled-double this year: Mary Chaudoin, (assists/digs) Whitney Granado (assists/digs), Kelsey Hall (kills/digs), Kelci Marschall (kills/digs) and Taylor Wittmer (kills/blocks).
Chaudoin and Wittmer have also each come extremely close to pulling off the very rare volleyball triple-double. Chaudoin came up just one kill and one dig shy of doing so against Missouri State while Wittmer's double-double vs. UT Martin was two digs shy of converting to the triple-double.
