Indiana University Athletics
Hometown Hero: Ashley Benson
10/13/2022 11:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The name Benson is synonymous with success in the history of Indiana Athletics. Before Ashley Benson, there was her father, Kent.
The 1973 Mr. Basketball out of New Castle High School, Kent went on to star for Bob Knight's teams in the 70's. He played a pivotal role in the undefeated 1976 National Championship team and became the top overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft.
After Kent came his daughter Ashley. A 6'3 middle blocker from Bloomington North High School, Ashley is one of the highest-rated recruits the IU volleyball program has ever seen.
"When I was going through the recruiting process, before I even was a volleyball player, I had IU in sight," Benson said. "I wanted to have Indiana across my chest and represent the school."
In the fall of 2007, Benson joined first-year coach Sherry Dunbar in Bloomington to help build a program notorious for finishing at the bottom of the conference.
She was in the lineup from the beginning of her career. During her debut campaign, she set the IU freshman record for total blocks with 140, hit .267, recorded double-digit kills on 12 occasions and played in all 32 matches for the Hoosiers.
A dominating performance against Ohio State in 2007 saw her hit .485 with 17 kills on 33 swings with only a single error on the stat sheet.
"My freshman year, it was a big shock," Benson said. "I had to learn to balance all these new things and still have my social life and still communicate with friends outside of volleyball."
The Hoosiers went just 15-17 during her freshman campaign but wins over Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State and a sweep of Iowa paved the way for what would be an outstanding four seasons with Benson in the program.
First All-American in Program History
After earning a shout on the All-Big Team in her sophomore year that saw her score 167 blocks, 372 kills and a .303 clip offensively, Benson geared up for a program-defining stretch in 2009 and 2010.
On a team that featured All-Big Ten caliber players in libero Caitlin Cox and outside hitter Jordan Haverly, the Hoosiers played to a 17-17 record in 2009.
Benson was nearly unstoppable in her junior campaign. She was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection after hitting a program single-season record .361 on 422 kills. She had 150 blocks and 33 aces to pair with her 422 kills.
She hit over .400 in half of the matches that season and over .300 in 26 games during the campaign.
During December of her junior year, Benson was sitting at home studying for finals when Dunbar asked her to come to the offices.
It was there that the Bloomington native learned she'd become the first All-American in program history. Benson earned third-team honors during her junior season.
"I didn't have the intention of being an All-American," Benson said. "I knew that I was going to give the program my all and do what I could to help the team succeed."
2010 Season
The Hoosiers spent the summer of 2010 on a foreign tour in Europe. Benson helped lead team-only talks while they were in Europe to bring the team closer together.
She wanted every player to be on the same page as she entered her senior campaign in Bloomington.
"We wouldn't have gotten where we did without everyone buying in 100%," Benson said.
IU opened the 2010 season with a 12-0 record following a clean sweep of the non-conference slate. But once the calendar switched to conference play, the Hoosiers stumbled to an 0-4 start including a loss to rival Purdue.
Three of those losses came away home. After returning to Bloomington on Oct. 8th for a match against Ohio State, things really began to click.
IU rattled off three-straight wins including the lone win in program history against Penn State.
In front of a sold-out University Gym, IU knocked off the three-time defending national champions and No. 4 Penn State in four sets.
Haverly had 21 kills while Benson converted 17 swings into 12 kills and a .529 hitting percentage.
The win helped spark a 9-8 finish to the conference slate in the final 17 contests and a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.
IU was near perfect on its home court in the 2010 season. A 17-2 record in the confines of University Gym helped spark the best season in the program's history.
"It wasn't the prettiest, but we brought the fans into U-Gym," Benson said. "Being 17-2 at home, it just attracted more fans every match we played. We had the crowd behind us and their full support."
The Hoosiers dispatched of Miami (FL) in the First Round before setting up a matchup inside University Gym with 11th-seeded Tennessee.
Tennessee jumped out to a 2-1 advantage, but IU responded by winning a pair of deuce games to take the match in five sets.
Haverly had 30 kills on a .333 clip to pair with 14 digs while Benson provided 14 kills and six blocks as IU advanced to its first Sweet 16 in program history.
"When you have that crowd behind you, it gives you that little bit of energy and that boost to make you play harder and something bigger than yourself.
The Hoosiers would fall in the Sweet 16 to No. 6 USC, calling close to the program's best season ever.
Impact on Indiana Volleyball
Benson would go on to win First Team All-American honors in a season where she hit a resounding .408 and averaged 1.40 blocks per set.
She's the only name on the wall in Wilkinson Hall to this date, a place reserved for the program's All-Americans.
Her name is still first in three major categories including matches played (132), hitting percentage (.339) and total blocks (629).
On Friday, October 14th, her legacy will be cemented forever as Benson becomes the first volleyball player to join the Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame.
Everything will come full circle for the Benson family as she will join her father as the first daughter-father duo to join the Hall of Fame in the history of IU Athletics.
Benson will be honored before Sunday's match between IU and Michigan State at Wilkinson Hall.
Career Numbers:
- 132 Matches Played: No. 1 in Program History
- .339 Hitting Percentage: No. 1 in Program History
- 629 Total Blocks: No. 1 in Program History
- 1,492 Kills: No. 6 in Program History
Accolades:
- 2010 AVCA First Team All-American
- 2009 AVCA Third Team All-American
- 2010 All-Big Ten Team (Unanimous)
- 2009 All-Big Ten Team (Unanimous)
- 2008 All-Big Ten Team
- No. 17 Recruit in Class of 2007
Her Thoughts:
On being the only All-American in program history….
"I had no idea what an All-American was. I knew I had high potential, but I didn't know that kind of potential would be rewarded."
On being at IU…
"To have my friends and family close by to support me in those games, that was more of what I was looking for in the process. It was always a goal of mine to play of IU."
The 1973 Mr. Basketball out of New Castle High School, Kent went on to star for Bob Knight's teams in the 70's. He played a pivotal role in the undefeated 1976 National Championship team and became the top overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft.
After Kent came his daughter Ashley. A 6'3 middle blocker from Bloomington North High School, Ashley is one of the highest-rated recruits the IU volleyball program has ever seen.
"When I was going through the recruiting process, before I even was a volleyball player, I had IU in sight," Benson said. "I wanted to have Indiana across my chest and represent the school."
In the fall of 2007, Benson joined first-year coach Sherry Dunbar in Bloomington to help build a program notorious for finishing at the bottom of the conference.
She was in the lineup from the beginning of her career. During her debut campaign, she set the IU freshman record for total blocks with 140, hit .267, recorded double-digit kills on 12 occasions and played in all 32 matches for the Hoosiers.
A dominating performance against Ohio State in 2007 saw her hit .485 with 17 kills on 33 swings with only a single error on the stat sheet.
"My freshman year, it was a big shock," Benson said. "I had to learn to balance all these new things and still have my social life and still communicate with friends outside of volleyball."
The Hoosiers went just 15-17 during her freshman campaign but wins over Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State and a sweep of Iowa paved the way for what would be an outstanding four seasons with Benson in the program.
First All-American in Program History
After earning a shout on the All-Big Team in her sophomore year that saw her score 167 blocks, 372 kills and a .303 clip offensively, Benson geared up for a program-defining stretch in 2009 and 2010.
On a team that featured All-Big Ten caliber players in libero Caitlin Cox and outside hitter Jordan Haverly, the Hoosiers played to a 17-17 record in 2009.
Benson was nearly unstoppable in her junior campaign. She was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection after hitting a program single-season record .361 on 422 kills. She had 150 blocks and 33 aces to pair with her 422 kills.
She hit over .400 in half of the matches that season and over .300 in 26 games during the campaign.
During December of her junior year, Benson was sitting at home studying for finals when Dunbar asked her to come to the offices.
It was there that the Bloomington native learned she'd become the first All-American in program history. Benson earned third-team honors during her junior season.
"I didn't have the intention of being an All-American," Benson said. "I knew that I was going to give the program my all and do what I could to help the team succeed."
2010 Season
The Hoosiers spent the summer of 2010 on a foreign tour in Europe. Benson helped lead team-only talks while they were in Europe to bring the team closer together.
She wanted every player to be on the same page as she entered her senior campaign in Bloomington.
"We wouldn't have gotten where we did without everyone buying in 100%," Benson said.
IU opened the 2010 season with a 12-0 record following a clean sweep of the non-conference slate. But once the calendar switched to conference play, the Hoosiers stumbled to an 0-4 start including a loss to rival Purdue.
Three of those losses came away home. After returning to Bloomington on Oct. 8th for a match against Ohio State, things really began to click.
IU rattled off three-straight wins including the lone win in program history against Penn State.
In front of a sold-out University Gym, IU knocked off the three-time defending national champions and No. 4 Penn State in four sets.
Haverly had 21 kills while Benson converted 17 swings into 12 kills and a .529 hitting percentage.
The win helped spark a 9-8 finish to the conference slate in the final 17 contests and a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.
IU was near perfect on its home court in the 2010 season. A 17-2 record in the confines of University Gym helped spark the best season in the program's history.
"It wasn't the prettiest, but we brought the fans into U-Gym," Benson said. "Being 17-2 at home, it just attracted more fans every match we played. We had the crowd behind us and their full support."
The Hoosiers dispatched of Miami (FL) in the First Round before setting up a matchup inside University Gym with 11th-seeded Tennessee.
Tennessee jumped out to a 2-1 advantage, but IU responded by winning a pair of deuce games to take the match in five sets.
Haverly had 30 kills on a .333 clip to pair with 14 digs while Benson provided 14 kills and six blocks as IU advanced to its first Sweet 16 in program history.
"When you have that crowd behind you, it gives you that little bit of energy and that boost to make you play harder and something bigger than yourself.
The Hoosiers would fall in the Sweet 16 to No. 6 USC, calling close to the program's best season ever.
Impact on Indiana Volleyball
Benson would go on to win First Team All-American honors in a season where she hit a resounding .408 and averaged 1.40 blocks per set.
She's the only name on the wall in Wilkinson Hall to this date, a place reserved for the program's All-Americans.
Her name is still first in three major categories including matches played (132), hitting percentage (.339) and total blocks (629).
On Friday, October 14th, her legacy will be cemented forever as Benson becomes the first volleyball player to join the Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame.
Everything will come full circle for the Benson family as she will join her father as the first daughter-father duo to join the Hall of Fame in the history of IU Athletics.
Benson will be honored before Sunday's match between IU and Michigan State at Wilkinson Hall.
Career Numbers:
- 132 Matches Played: No. 1 in Program History
- .339 Hitting Percentage: No. 1 in Program History
- 629 Total Blocks: No. 1 in Program History
- 1,492 Kills: No. 6 in Program History
Accolades:
- 2010 AVCA First Team All-American
- 2009 AVCA Third Team All-American
- 2010 All-Big Ten Team (Unanimous)
- 2009 All-Big Ten Team (Unanimous)
- 2008 All-Big Ten Team
- No. 17 Recruit in Class of 2007
Her Thoughts:
On being the only All-American in program history….
"I had no idea what an All-American was. I knew I had high potential, but I didn't know that kind of potential would be rewarded."
On being at IU…
"To have my friends and family close by to support me in those games, that was more of what I was looking for in the process. It was always a goal of mine to play of IU."
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