Indiana University Athletics
Dunbar Wants Indiana Staying Loose In Final Month
11/6/2015 4:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
Indiana volleyball is better than this. Head coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan swears by it.
The Hoosiers (13-12, 3-10) have fallen into a funk over the last four weeks, going 1-8 in Big Ten matches, and it's hard for anyone to pinpoint why.
Practices are just as intense, Dunbar-Kruzan said. Players come in early and stay late to get extra work in and keep requesting extra film outside of practice. There's proven talent up and down Indiana's experienced roster and a 10-2 non-conference record to back up the team's potential.
But during Big Ten games, Indiana hasn't quite been the same team.
"I know that's on me," Dunbar-Kruzan said, "but I'm trying to figure out how to help them because you see the training is there. You see them in practice and you see them getting better and you're seeing the determination…They know they can play at a higher level and we just have to keep trying."
Heading into Saturday's match against No. 8 Nebraska, Dunbar-Kruzan said she doesn't want her players worrying about results. She calls it playing "loose."
Playing loose doesn't mean not caring, Dunbar-Kruzan said. It means taking risks. It means playing the way she knows her team is capable of.
"More like, 'I'm just going to go for it,'" she said. "That, to me, is loose. Like in practice, they're willing to go for it."
That's the difference between the two versions of Indiana volleyball Dunbar-Kruzan said she sees right now.
The one at practice is willing to gamble to make plays knowing there's no points on the line. The one in games plays too timid, waiting for good things to happen rather than attacking an opponent.
"I think in practice we really just have no fear," senior outside hitter Amelia Anderson said. "We know it's not win or loss. It's just go out there and have fun. If we miss a ball, sure, we'll run a couple sprints, but we'll hit the next one. I think that's where we struggle in games is we focus so much on winning and losing that it gets in our head a little bit."
Ignoring results is counterintuitive for athletes, Anderson said, but she agrees with Dunbar-Kruzan in saying it's a step in moving forward.
If her team plays loose, the wins will follow.
"We always bounce back in practice," Anderson said. "Now it's about transferring that bounce back into games."
Indiana will have its chances. The Hoosiers have seven games remaining in their Big Ten schedule, beginning at home Saturday against Nebraska before Rutgers and Michigan State the following week.
Dunbar-Kruzan said her seniors are starting to count down the number of practices left for the right reasons. They're starting to play with an increased sense of urgency knowing there's only seven games and 13 practices left on the schedule before their careers are over.
That sense of urgency could be exactly the spark Indiana needs, Dunbar-Kruzan said, because there's only so much time left for Indiana to prove what type of team it is.
That all starts this weekend against one of the top-ranked volleyball programs in the nation.
"I believe that they're going to have a chance on Saturday night," Dunbar-Kruzan said. "If you don't believe that, then you can't show up, and that's what I told them. At some point you have to believe in you, the determination and the work you put in. It doesn't matter what everybody else thinks."
IUHoosiers.com
Indiana volleyball is better than this. Head coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan swears by it.
The Hoosiers (13-12, 3-10) have fallen into a funk over the last four weeks, going 1-8 in Big Ten matches, and it's hard for anyone to pinpoint why.
Practices are just as intense, Dunbar-Kruzan said. Players come in early and stay late to get extra work in and keep requesting extra film outside of practice. There's proven talent up and down Indiana's experienced roster and a 10-2 non-conference record to back up the team's potential.
But during Big Ten games, Indiana hasn't quite been the same team.
"I know that's on me," Dunbar-Kruzan said, "but I'm trying to figure out how to help them because you see the training is there. You see them in practice and you see them getting better and you're seeing the determination…They know they can play at a higher level and we just have to keep trying."
Heading into Saturday's match against No. 8 Nebraska, Dunbar-Kruzan said she doesn't want her players worrying about results. She calls it playing "loose."
Playing loose doesn't mean not caring, Dunbar-Kruzan said. It means taking risks. It means playing the way she knows her team is capable of.
"More like, 'I'm just going to go for it,'" she said. "That, to me, is loose. Like in practice, they're willing to go for it."
That's the difference between the two versions of Indiana volleyball Dunbar-Kruzan said she sees right now.
The one at practice is willing to gamble to make plays knowing there's no points on the line. The one in games plays too timid, waiting for good things to happen rather than attacking an opponent.
"I think in practice we really just have no fear," senior outside hitter Amelia Anderson said. "We know it's not win or loss. It's just go out there and have fun. If we miss a ball, sure, we'll run a couple sprints, but we'll hit the next one. I think that's where we struggle in games is we focus so much on winning and losing that it gets in our head a little bit."
Ignoring results is counterintuitive for athletes, Anderson said, but she agrees with Dunbar-Kruzan in saying it's a step in moving forward.
If her team plays loose, the wins will follow.
"We always bounce back in practice," Anderson said. "Now it's about transferring that bounce back into games."
Indiana will have its chances. The Hoosiers have seven games remaining in their Big Ten schedule, beginning at home Saturday against Nebraska before Rutgers and Michigan State the following week.
Dunbar-Kruzan said her seniors are starting to count down the number of practices left for the right reasons. They're starting to play with an increased sense of urgency knowing there's only seven games and 13 practices left on the schedule before their careers are over.
That sense of urgency could be exactly the spark Indiana needs, Dunbar-Kruzan said, because there's only so much time left for Indiana to prove what type of team it is.
That all starts this weekend against one of the top-ranked volleyball programs in the nation.
"I believe that they're going to have a chance on Saturday night," Dunbar-Kruzan said. "If you don't believe that, then you can't show up, and that's what I told them. At some point you have to believe in you, the determination and the work you put in. It doesn't matter what everybody else thinks."
IUVB: Regional Semifinals - Postgame Press Conference
Friday, December 12
IUVB: Regional Semifinals - Pre-Match Press Conference
Thursday, December 11
IUVB: Selection Sunday Press Conference
Sunday, November 30
IUVB at Purdue: Highlights
Saturday, November 29