Indiana University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Iowa, No. 6 Nebraska This Weekend
11/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2013
| Week 12: Iowa and Nebraska |
|
| Fri., Nov. 22 | University Gymnasium • Bloomington, Ind. • Tickets |
| 7 p.m. ET | vs. Iowa: Watch LIVE! |Listen LIVE! | GameTracker |
| Promotion | Crimson Club Fish Bowl - Attending the match is worth 400 points and 1 lucky student will walk away with a FREE iPad! Three students will receive runner-up prizes, and every student will receive a Crimson Club t-shirt |
| Saturday, Nov. 23 |
University Gymnasium • Bloomington, Ind. • Tickets |
| 7 p.m. ET | vs. No. 6 Nebraska: Watch LIVE! |Listen LIVE! | GameTracker |
| Promotion | Show Your Stripes - Bring out your best cream & crimson stripes and share photos on Twitter and Facebook with #ShowYourStripes |
| Weekly Notes |
Indiana  | Big Ten | Nebraska | Iowa |
| Social Media | @IUVolleyball | Facebook | Instagram |
Indiana hosts the Hawkeyes on Friday in the two teams’ second meeting of the 2013 campaign. The Hoosiers fell in five sets to Iowa on the road on Oct. 19 and will look to even the series at 1-1 on the year. Iowa is currently 1-15 in Big Ten play and 10-18 overally. They are led by Alex Lovell who paces the Hawkeyes with her 362 kills on the season and her 3.45 kills per set. Bethany Yeager leads Iowa with 435 digs and 4.14 per set.
Nebraska will play Indiana on Saturday and is currently ranked sixth in the country in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Huskers’ Kelsey Robinson has taken the Big Ten Player of the Week honors for the third straight week, while Mary Pollmiller was recently named the B1G Setter of the Week. Indiana and Nebraska last faced off in Lincoln, Neb. where IU dropped a three-setter to the Huskers (25-15, 25-16, 25-16).
LAST TIME OUT
The Hoosiers competed in their final road games of the 2013 regualar season last weekend with contests at No. 25 Illinois and Northwestern.
Despite losses in both matches, Indiana showed fight in closely combatted sets in each match. Against the Fighting Illini, IU fell in straight sets, including an opening game that featured 21 ties and 12 lead changes before Illinois took it 28-26. Indiana fell in the following sets 25-18 and 25-22 in the setback. Awele Nwaeze led Indiana with her 11 kills on the night, hitting .280 on 25 swings. She added a pair of digs and two block assists. Jordan Haverly tallied nine kills against the Illini and posted five digs, while Morgan Leach and Amelia Anderson contributed with seven kills apiece. Katie Gallagher and Megan Tallman split time at setter and handed out 16 and 15 assists, respectively. On the defensive end, Caitlin Hansen averaged 7.0 digs per set on a 21-dig performance, while Taylor Lebo had 11 in the match.
The Hoosiers looked to avenge a five-set loss to Northwestern earlier in the season when they headed to Evanston, Ill. last Sunday, but the Wildcats would escape with another win in five in another close match.
Redshirt senior Jordan Haverly’s performance that day earned her a spot in the IU volleyball record books. Her 19 digs this afternoon set her career total to 1,006 and makes her the first player in program history to amass 1,500 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. Her 11 kills helped her to her second double-double of the year and brings her career kill total to 1,627 which ranks thid all-time.
Morgan Leach and Amelia Anderson also posted double-digit kill performances. Leach struck for 16 against the Wildcats while maintaining a .375 clip, while Anderson tallied 20 terminations in five sets. Awele Nwaeze added nine kills and four block assists and Caitlin Hansen and Taylor Lebo recorded 14 and 20 digs, respectively. Freshman Megan Tallman dished out 36 assists in the contest.
HAVERLY SETS PROGRAM MILESTONE
Jordan Haverly became the fist Hoosier in program history to surpass 1,500 kills and 1,000 digs in a career with her 13th dig agaisnt Northwestern on Nov. 17. She has now amassed 1,006 digs during her tenure, good for eighth in the program record books.
She became the fifth Hoosier all-time to surpass 1,500 career kills with her first kill of the night at Wisconsin. Her 1,627 career kills are the seventh most among active players nationally and the third-most in IU program history. The fifth-year senior led Indiana in kills during all three of her previous seasons (2009, 2010 & 2012). She sat out the 2011 campaign due to a knee injury suffered during the Spring season of 2011. Haverly had major reconstructive surgery on her knee after tearing her ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus.
This season, Haverly has 238 kills and is one of four Hoosiers with more than 200 terminations. The Cherry Hill, Ill., is second on the IU squad in kills, no longer having to carry as much of the burden.
CAITLIN PASSES 1,000
Caitlin Hansen is in year two as the libero for the Hoosiers. The senior from Indianapolis surpassed the 1,000 dig barrier against Penn State. She proved it wasn’t a fluke, too, tallying 24 digs in the five-setter against Ohio State.
Last weekend, Hansen tallied 21 kills in just three sets against No. 25 Illinois, which helped move her to into fifth in conference only matches at 4.02 digs per set.
PUT IT AWAY-LE
Transferring into Indiana last January, Indiana’s recruitment of Awele Nwaeze was fast and furious, sort of how her start on the court has been this Fall.
Nwaeze leads the team in blocks (80) and is third in kills (225) and second in points (286.0). The sophomore transferred in from Miami (FL) and has fit well into the Hoosiers’ lineup this fall. On the first weekend of the season, Nwaeze earned MVP honors after leading the Hoosiers to the Indiana Invitational title and a 3-0 record.
MO’ BETTA
Junior Morgan Leach has been a consistent offensive force for the Hoosiers through her first two seasons in Bloomington, hitting .249 as a freshman and .259 as a sophomore. She is hitting .244 thus far in 2013.
Leach has 270 kills to lead the team in 2013 and is one of four Hoosiers with 200+ kills. Leach has thrived in a new role this season, moving to the right side full time since the beginning of the conference slate after rotating to the position while also playing some in the middle early in the season. Leach played solely in the middle during her first two years at IU.
Leach hit a career-high 20 kills on 37 swings (.378) this season, surpassing her previous mark of 18 terminations against Wisconsin on Sept. 28, 2013. On the season, the junior has reached atleast 10 kills in 13 matches, the most of any Hoosier this season.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Head Coach Sherry Dunbar has led her Hoosiers to at least one non-conference tournament title in each of her seven seasons in Bloomington, and a total of 12 tourney crowns.
2007: Valparaiso Popcorn Classic
2008: IU adidas Classic
2009: Flo Hyman Invitational (U. of Houston), Hampton Inn Invitational (Ohio University)
2010: Courtyard Marriott Georgia Tech Classic, IU adidas Classic, Niagara/Canisius Tournament
2011: IU Classic, Hoosier Classic
2012: Black Knight Invitational, Indiana Invitational
2013: Indiana Invitational, Hoosier Classic
LEADING THE CHARGE
The captains of the 2013 IU Volleyball team, as elected by the players, are Caitlin Hansen and Jade Henderson. The program also has started a leadership council this season which includes Jordan Haverly, Melanie Hicks, Morgan Leach and Katie Gallagher.
Henderson and Hansen will be the team’s designated leaders on the court. Each of the four members of the Leadership Counsel will be the team’s go-to leader for designated areas. Hicks will be in charge of Gameday Preparation, Haverly will take the lead for Academics, Leach is in charge of Treatment and Recovery, and Gallagher will spearhead Community Outreach.
ALWAYS IN THE KNOW
Hoosier fans can follow their volleyball team like never before by logging on to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube all season long. Indiana can be followed on Twitter (twitter.com/IUVolleyball), Instagram (instagram.com/iuvolleyball) and Facebook (facebook.com/IUVolleyball). In addition, a live audio or video broadcast of all matches can be found at IUHoosiers.com. Pierce Cavanaugh is in his first season as the voice of IU Volleyball.
JUST JADE
Junior Jade Henderson gives you an inside look at the Indiana Volleyball program in her weekly Youtube blog, Just Jade. The weekly video blog gives viewers a glimpse at the life of an Indiana student-athlete.
Players Mentioned
