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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports volleyball

Hoosiers begin Big Ten season

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The last time IU had a winning season in the Big Ten, freshman outside hitter Jessica Leish, the younger of the two true-freshmen on the team, was three years old.

IU (9-3) will begin Big Ten play at 8 p.m. Friday against Michigan State (7-4) and then continue against Michigan ?(5-5) at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Both games will be played in University Gym.

Friday’s game against the Spartans will be on Big Ten Network as well as the radio broadcast, while Saturday’s game against the Wolverines will only have the radio broadcast, available on ? iuhoosiers.com .

Last season, IU went 1-19 in the Big Ten. Its only win of the season came against Michigan State in a five-set nail-biter on Oct. 26, 2013.

It was a major upset. IU was 0-9 in the conference at the time, while Michigan State was No. 10 in the country.

Plus, the game was played in East Lansing, Mich.

“We needed that win,” then-senior libero Caitlin Hansen said after the upset.

But that was the lone win for a Hoosier team filled with freshmen who weren’t ready for the spotlight of Big Ten play, several members of the team have said this season.

IU has historically struggled in the Big Ten. It’s been 15 years since IU had a winning season in the conference.

That is in part due to the competition level in the Big Ten. The conference is regarded as the nation’s best volleyball conference.

Six of the last eight NCAA champions have been Big Ten teams. Five of those come from Penn State, who won an incredible four-straight championships from 2007 to 2010.

The Nittany Lions, who IU is just 1-46 against all-time, also won the national championship last season.

In fact, last season’s national championship game featured two Big Ten teams: Penn State and Wisconsin.

The Big Ten’s dominance in volleyball not only is present at the national title scene, but the depth of the conference is also unparalleled to any other conference in NCAA volleyball.

Of the top 17 teams nationally, six are from the Big Ten.

The success of the Big Ten can be understood even more when compared to a higher revenue sport.

The South Eastern Conference (SEC) in college football is also regarded as the best football conference and a perennial juggernaut.

Of the top 17 teams in the nation, seven teams are from the SEC, according to the Coaches Poll this week.

So, the Big Ten in volleyball is remarkably similar to the SEC in football in terms of overall conference success.

IU knows where it is in the conference, sophomore setter Megan Tallman said. It’s had one of the worst teams in terms of overall record for more than a decade.

But IU might not have to get more than .500 in the conference to earn a bid for the NCAA Tournament.

After all, the 2010 IU team, which made the program’s first and only Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, had just a 9-11 record in the Big Ten regular season that season.

“We are towards the bottom of the Big Ten right now, and we all know it,” Tallman said. “And in order for us to get better, we have to get out of our comfort zones. That’s what coach tells us all ?the time.”

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