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(09/15/08 3:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Familiarity was lacking for the IU volleyball team this weekend.Playing on the road in a new environment and in hot conditions, the Hoosiers took two out of three matches at the University of Kentucky tournament in Lexington, Ky. “The facilities were different, and there was no air conditioning,” said IU coach Sherry Dunbar.IU lost 3-1 Friday to Kentucky but rebounded Saturday to defeat Albany and Eastern Kentucky by scores of 3-1 and 3-0, respectively. With the two wins, the Hoosiers improved to 6-3 on the year.Dunbar said she wished the Hoosiers had swept the tournament but knew they weren’t capable of doing that based on Friday’s engagement.“We were trying to go 3-0 but didn’t play well (Friday),” she said. Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Benson, who recorded a team-high 20.5 points in the Eastern Kentucky match, said she was pleased with Saturday’s play.“I felt good about (our play against) Albany,” Benson said. “Eastern Kentucky was our best match, and I felt great about it.”Dunbar was complimentary of Benson’s individual play afterward as well.“Ashley started out strong, and her defense was really good throughout the tournament,” she said.As a team, the Hoosiers recorded 181 points for the weekend. Three of those points come from freshman defensive specialist Cailtin Cox, who said the team played hard in Saturday’s matches. “We competed and fought and the scores showed that,” Cox said.IU returns home this Friday and Saturday to host the TIS Bookstore IU invitational. The Hoosiers will welcome George Mason and Ball State at 12:30 p.m and 7:30 p.m., respectively, Friday at the University Gym. On Saturday the action moves to Assembly Hall at 3 p.m. against Cincinnati. Benson said she hopes the Hoosiers play as well as they did in their opening home tournament when they swept all three matches.“Hopefully, it will be like the adidas Classic, as we played great in that and did what we had to do,” she said.
(09/12/08 4:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU volleyball team is using last weekend’s three-game sweep at the adidas Classic to carry momentum into the University of Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Its 3-0 record and impressive showings from several players has had a tremendous impact on the players’ mental game, said senior co-captain Erica Short.“I feel like the win from last week will give us confidence for this week,” said Short, who took tournament MVP honors last weekend and is ready for the University of Kentucky Invitational this weekend. “These are great teams we’re going to play, but it was a great confidence booster.” IU coach Sherry Dunbar said she hopes to use those three wins as a reference point during the season’s down times. Several of the players have learned some important lessons from the adidas Classic and plan to apply them to this weekend’s matches. “The fight is what I’ll take with me next weekend, especially against Louisville,” said sophomore middle blocker Ashley Benson. “Yea, we were up and then we were down, but in that fifth game we had to fight to win.”The team has been working hard this week to add three more wins to the board. “This week started off pretty rough; we didn’t come in ready to practice,” Benson said. “We all had our minds on the weekend still. We came in and didn’t do very well the first day, but we all talked about it, came back, and we had three great practices in a row and have really been preparing for this weekend.” The team travels next to Kentucky to participate in the University of Kentucky Invitational. The Hoosiers face Kentucky at 7 p.m. Friday, with 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. matches against Albany and Eastern Kentucky, respectively, on tap for Saturday. “Kentucky has a lot of experienced players, good ball control, and a very balanced talent system,” Dunbar said.The team has been reviewing film and preparing themselves for what is to come.“Their setters dump a lot more than ours do,” Short said. “That’s what we worked on: picking up the setter dump and making sure we’re hitting open shots.”
(09/05/08 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With its first tournament behind them, the IU volleyball team is ready for some new competition closer to home – Assembly Hall, to be precise. The Hoosiers will host Louisville, Wake Forest and Valparaiso in the adidas Classic at Assembly Hall from Friday until Sunday, a short move from their usual home at the University Gym.Last Friday, the team ended their 15-year win streak in season openers when they fell to No. 24 Long Beach State 3-0. Although sophomore middle blocker Ashley Benson and senior captain Juli Pierce showed great defensive skills in the match, it wasn’t enough to give them a game victory.Both Benson and Pierce shined, recording seven blocks and 18 digs apiece. The match against Missouri State was another tough loss, with only one game win for the Hoosiers in a 3-1 defeat. IU tallied a .307 hitting percentage and added 71 kills to the board, but the Hoosiers couldn’t find them at crucicial times, leading to the defeat.Those setbacks aside, the team goal remains to qualify for the NCAA Tournament this summer, which will require much focus and determination from this young team, said several players. “That’s what is on our minds every single day, to make it to the tournament,” Pierce said. “To do that, we have to be prepared for every match and fight during every practice.”Learning from their two season-opening losses, the Hoosiers have hit the practice court hard this week, working out the kinks that hurt them last weekend. “We’ve been working a lot on serve and serve-receive,” said senior captain Erica Short. “We do 45 minutes of serve-receive and 25 serves with an elastic band.” Serve-receive is a drill which features one person serving to the six teammates on the other side of the court, like a mock game. The drill helps improve players’ reaction time to serves, as well as their accuracy in passing. Serve-receiving skills are crucial to in-game action, and players’ success in the drill can foreshadow a team’s performance. The game itself has changed slightly since last year, going from 30-point games to 25-point games. The team recognizes the difference this rule change will make.“We’re learning from the Long Beach game to reduce unforced errors and to start strong,” said IU coach Sherry Dunbar. “All the matches we’re playing are very tough competition. Nothing is going to come easy for them, so we’re concentrating on fighting through every drill and getting them to compete harder and fight harder.”Dunbar has high hopes for this young team. “Having such a young team adds a lot of personality and a lot of talent to our program,” Dunbar said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or a freshman, if you go out and play hard, that’s all that we’re looking for.” The team has nine freshman and sophomore players, all of whom their coach thinks can contribute to the program.“They’re doing fine at this level of volleyball, and that’s what it is all about,” Dunbar said.The round robin-style adidas Classic will begin for the Hoosiers at 12:30 p.m. Friday against Valparaiso, with a 7:30 p.m. date with Wake Forest that same day. Play will conclude for the host team at 3 p.m. Saturday, when they take on Louisville.Dunbar said each team has something different to bring to the tournament. “Valpo is a good major team who knows how to win with good defense and long rallies,” Dunbar said. “Louisville is ranked No. 1 in blocking, so they are really a big physical team."The different varieties and styles of play that each team has to offer will not only add excitement to the match, but will also be beneficial to our players and our program.”