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(09/02/11 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s volleyball team begins its home schedule with the IU Classic Friday and Saturday at the University Gymnasium.“I think we need to take it to the next level of actually playing on the court together and learning how to play next to a person that they don’t know so well,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “I think communicating more really helps the team chemistry. Otherwise, they are just standing there as six people on the court with no uniformity.”Last weekend, the Hoosiers dropped two out of their first three games of the season at the Hokie Classic in Blacksburg, Va.While the cream and crimson did not get the results they desired, the team experienced playing against some of the nation’s top teams — most notably host Virginia Tech.This weekend, the team will play one game Friday against Southeast Missouri State and two games Saturday against Youngstown State and Buffalo.One of the main goals Dunbar has tried to preach throughout practice is aggressive serving.“You need to take teams out of their systems, which means they can’t run the offense that they want to run,” Dunbar said.Dunbar said the team’s two defensive specialists, sophomores Melanie Hicks and Caitlin Hansen, have done the best job serving as the team struggles to find its new scoring identity.“When you talk about kills per set and earning points, it doesn’t matter how you earn them,” Dunbar said. “You can do it off a kill, you can do it off a stuffed block or you can do it off an ace. As long as it happens. I don’t care how we get to 25 points, but because we lost so much offense last year, we need to rely on other ways to get our kills.”The excitement to start the home schedule can be felt within the entire volleyball program.Freshman Morgan Leach said she is very excited to play in front of the Hoosier home crowd for a couple reasons.“I came to a couple games here (last year) and it made me really want to play here with all of it,” Leach said. “I think it will be easier here because I am used to playing here, and everyone will be cheering for us instead of booing when you are serving.”
(09/02/11 4:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s volleyball team begins its home schedule with the IU Classic Friday and Saturday at the University Gymnasium.“I think we need to take it to the next level of actually playing on the court together and learning how to play next to a person that they don’t know so well,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said. “I think communicating more really helps the team chemistry. Otherwise, they are just standing there as six people on the court with no uniformity.”Last weekend, the Hoosiers dropped two out of their first three games of the season at the Hokie Classic in Blacksburg, Va.While the cream and crimson did not get the results they desired, the team experienced playing against some of the nation’s top teams — most notably host Virginia Tech.This weekend, the team will play one game Friday against Southeast Missouri State and two games Saturday against Youngstown State and Buffalo.One of the main goals Dunbar has tried to preach throughout practice is aggressive serving.“You need to take teams out of their systems, which means they can’t run the offense that they want to run,” Dunbar said.Dunbar said the team’s two defensive specialists, sophomores Melanie Hicks and Caitlin Hansen, have done the best job serving as the team struggles to find its new scoring identity.“When you talk about kills per set and earning points, it doesn’t matter how you earn them,” Dunbar said. “You can do it off a kill, you can do it off a stuffed block or you can do it off an ace. As long as it happens. I don’t care how we get to 25 points, but because we lost so much offense last year, we need to rely on other ways to get our kills.”The excitement to start the home schedule can be felt within the entire volleyball program.Freshman Morgan Leach said she is very excited to play in front of the Hoosier home crowd for a couple reasons.“I came to a couple games here (last year) and it made me really want to play here with all of it,” Leach said. “I think it will be easier here because I am used to playing here, and everyone will be cheering for us instead of booing when you are serving.”
(08/29/11 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite the efforts of senior libero Caitlin Cox, the IU women’s volleyball team dropped two of three games at the Hokie Classic in Blacksburg, Va.Cox, who was named to the All-Tournament team Saturday, led the Hoosiers’ defense with 67 digs in the tournament.IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said strong leadership at the libero position is an essential part of a team’s success.“If you ask our players, ‘Who is the most competitive player on our team?’ the overwhelming selection would be Caitlin,” Dunbar said. “That’s the kind of person you look for in that position.”Although Cox was pleased with her personal success this weekend, she said the players learned a few things about themselves that will help them make adjustments moving forward.“Our team chemistry on the court needs to get better,” Cox said. “Off the court, our chemistry is great, but we need to start trusting and knowing what to expect from each other. But it takes some time.”The Hoosiers started the season Friday with a 3-1 win against High Point.Junior right-side hitter Kelci Marschall led the way on offense with 15 kills and added seven digs on the defensive side. The steady performance of Marschall was supplemented by junior outside hitter Ivie Obeime’s 11 kills.Dunbar said the team needs to improve their hitting throughout the year.“We have three juniors that are very fit and strong this year,” Dunbar said. “They’ve had extensive training time, so it’s time for them to step up. We need them to step up.”On Saturday, the Hoosiers dropped a match in five sets to Cleveland State.After falling behind in the final set, the Hoosiers fought off four match points to tie the score at 14 but lost the next two points to lose the match.The Hoosiers’ defense kept them in the game, and they won the second and fourth sets. Overall, the team had 13 blocks and 70 digs in the match.Saturday evening, the Hoosiers wrapped up the weekend play against host Virginia Tech. After winning the first set, IU dropped the next three to finish the weekend at the Hokie Classic 1-2.Marschall tied her season-high of 15 kills against Virginia Tech.Setting Marschall up was junior setter Whitney Granado, who dished out 41 assists after missing the match versus Cleveland State.Freshman middle blocker Morgan Leach started her IU career with 8 blocks against Virginia Tech and 21 in the tournament.“Morgan Leach did a great job in her first time playing with us,” Cox said. “I remember being really nervous my first game on the bigger stage, but she handled it well.”The Hoosiers will return to Bloomington to host the IU Classic from Sept. 2 to 3.
(08/26/11 4:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s volleyball team is coming off its best season in program history, in which they advanced to a Sweet 16 appearance in last year’s NCAA tournament. However, IU Coach Sherry Dunbar recognizes last year will not have any direct affect on the team’s record this season.“I think what the success of last year does is it gives you confidence,” Dunbar said. “It doesn’t give you any wins, but it definitely gives you confidence to say, ‘We trust what we are doing. We know that it is working.’ So now we have to figure out how to keep moving forward.”The team opens the season Friday at the Hokie Classic at Virginia Tech. After losing All-American middle blocker Ashley Benson to graduation and outside hitter Jordan Haverly to a season-ending knee injury, the team will have to adjust to a new core group. Last season, then-sophomore Haverly led the team with 463 kills. After last year’s success, she was regarded as one of the Big Ten’s top players to watch coming into this season. Now that she’s absent, Dunbar said the team’s playing style may be a bit unorthodox as the coaching staff figures out who will step up.“We have two lefties (Kelci Marschall and Kristen Seaton), so we are trying to figure out where they will fit in the lineup,” Dunbar said. “We are really trying to figure out who can handle a bigger load, who wants the pressure and who can sustain playing a lot more with more pressure than they did last year.”Marschall, a 6-foot-2-inch junior and right-side hitter, was third on the team last year with 287 kills and will need to help replace Haverly’s production.“We aren’t really looking to replace her, just trying to find different ways to be successful,” Marschall said. “You have to have a lot of versatility at the college level to be successful, so that’s what we all have to work on.”Along with Marschall, Dunbar said junior outside hitter Ivie Obeime has come into the season ready to take on more responsibility as an all-around player.“They both played three rotations last year, so this year we are trying to see if they can both play six rotations and handle the passing, the serving, the defensive part, plus the front row,” Dunbar said. “They really busted it this spring and summer. You can see it. Physically, they’ve gotten stronger. They are leaner, and I think they can handle that pressure a little bit more, but they are still learning.”Leadership and communication have been some important aspects Obeime said she has been trying to practice more this season.“I think I need to step up as a leader and start communicating on the court more this year,” Obeime said. “We have five new girls coming in ready to do work, and it’s going to be a different year.”Dunbar said she has faith the transition for all the new players will go smoothly because of the level of success they have already achieved.“The biggest thing we did when we got here as a program was to bring in winners,” Dunbar said. “People that understand and expect to win, and these kids expect to win.”As the season begins, the pressure of trying to top the program’s most successful year may present a challenge to this year’s team. Marschall said last year’s success can only help moving forward.“It’s something you know you have and you kind of keep it in your back pocket and remember you were good enough to get there, but it’s in your back pocket and you move forward with that,” Marschall said. “You build with new members and different strengths.”
(07/20/11 11:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 run last year, the team will make four appearances on national television this season.Three of the four televised games will be on the road, giving fans more opportunities to see IU play.IU’s Oct. 8 game against Nebraska will be broadcasted live by ESPN2.The Nov. 12 home game versus Iowa, the Oct. 26 game at Michigan State and the Nov. 20 game at Ohio State will all be televised by the Big Ten Network.IU opens its season at the Hokie Class in Blacksburg, Va., where it will play High Point, Cleveland State and Virginia Tech.-Max McCombs
(12/23/10 5:55pm)
The IU volleyball team earned its first top-25 ranking of the year in the season's last American Volleyball Coaches' Association poll.
(12/15/10 10:10pm)
Senior middle blocker Ashley Benson upped her historic 2009 All-America selection by being named First Team All-America on Monday.
(12/15/10 5:55pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior middle blocker Ashley Benson upped her historic 2009 All-America selection by being named First Team All-America on Monday.Benson was one of 14 players to be selected by American Volleyball Coaches' Association as First Team All-Americans. She earned Third Team honors last season.The Bloomington native broke her own school record with a .408 hitting efficiency in 2010, which was the second-best mark in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation. Her 1.40 blocks per set were best in the conference.Benson also cemented career records this season, ending her four-year tenure as a Hoosier with a .339 hitting efficiency and 629 total blocks.Benson led IU to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002 and its first-ever trip to the Sweet 16, where the Hoosiers fell to USC in three sets.- Drew Allen
(12/13/10 3:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 2010 season marked IU volleyball’s first time returning an All-American, its first time defeating Penn State and its first time advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.On Friday, however, the season of firsts came to an end. No. 6 seed USC ended the Hoosiers’ tournament run in the third round in Dayton, Ohio, winning in straight sets by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20.The Hoosiers finished 23-12, recording the most single-season wins since 1979.Although the first set was not close — IU never led — the next two frames were.IU coach Sherry Dunbar said the team became better after the first set. “Deer in the headlights in that first set, but I think we got more aggressive,” Dunbar said.The second game had three lead changes, but the Hoosiers fell behind in the last change at the 17-17 mark. The Trojans captured eight of the next 12 points to go up two sets to none. In the final set, the two teams were tied at 15-15, but USC went on a 5-0 run, and IU wasn’t able to catch up afterward. Dunbar said blocking would be vital on the Wednesday before the match, and it was. USC recorded eight total team blocks to the Hoosiers’ six. “They are big, they are strong, they play in a conference that they could set high to hit over us,” IU senior middle blocker Ashley Benson said. Benson recorded 13 kills, which tied for the match high with USC junior outside hitter Alex Jupiter. The 2009 All-American also had three blocks and three assists in the match.“You look at her, and she’s one of the best players in the country,” Dunbar said of Benson. “She just loves this school so much, and to have our young players see that and be that unselfish ... you can’t buy that.”The Hoosiers’ season kills leader, sophomore outside hitter Jordan Haverly, put up nine kills of her own. Junior setter Mary Chaudoin dished out 18 assists, and Cox led digs with 14. The Trojans led in every major category except digs. IU dug 46 hits to USC’s 44. “It just came down to scrappiness and grittiness out on the court,” junior libero Caitlin Cox said.Dunbar agreed.“I think when we don’t have horses like USC ... you have to have that fight,” Dunbar said. “I never felt like we lost that fight.”Dunbar said although the Hoosiers lost in the third round, this season set the standard of where they would like to be in the future.“To get to the Sweet 16 is something we want to continue as a tradition every year,” Dunbar said.
(12/10/10 11:59pm)
USC defeats IU three sets to zero, 25-18, 25-21, and 25-20.
(12/10/10 8:18pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers couldn't overcome the No. 6-seeded Trojans, falling 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20.The Hoosiers lost their first Sweet 16 game in program history.IU ends the season at 23-12, with six top 30 victories.USC recorded eight total team blocks to the Hoosiers six.On the competitiveness of the match, junior outside hitter Alex Jupiter said, "It was a dog fight."The Trojans will face Stanford or Ohio State in the Elite Eight match Saturday.Match Stats:IU: senior middle blocker Ashley Benson - 13 kills, junior setter Mary Chaudoin - 18 assists, junior libero Caitlin Cox - 14 digs and Benson - three blocks assisted.USC: Jupiter - 13 kills, junior setter Kendall Bateman - 35 assists, freshman libero Natalie Hagglund - 13 digs and junior middle blocker Lauren Williams - four blocks assisted.
(12/10/10 8:14pm)
NCAA volleyball Sweet 16
(12/10/10 5:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU volleyball team must defeat another highly ranked opponent in the NCAA Tournament, but this time it will have to do so on the road. After beating No. 11 seed Tennessee at University Gym, the Hoosiers (23-11) will go on the road to play No. 6 seed USC at 4 p.m. today.The IU volleyball team has already made program history by advancing to the Sweet 16 and can further solidify its run with a trip to the Elite Eight. Head coach Sherry Dunbar’s squad must first beat the Trojans to advance and face either Ohio State or Stanford on Saturday in Ohio UD Arena at the University of Dayton.The Hoosiers and OSU have the most losses of any team in the Sweet 16 with 11 apiece.Playing in Dayton, though, could be beneficial to the Hoosiers. “I think that’s definitely in our favor to not be that far away,” sophomore outside hitter Jordan Haverly said.Haverly leads the Hoosiers with 454 kills and 37 serving aces.Last weekend, she recorded 51 kills in the Hoosiers’ two NCAA tournament matches.Not far behind is senior middle blocker Ashley Benson, who has 424 kills and is second in the Big Ten with a 0.413 hitting efficiency. Sophomore outside hitters Kelci Marschall and Ivie Obeime are third and fourth on the team with 284 and 154 kills, respectively.“Ivie and Marsch both had good practices, and I hope they can both step up and help us out offensively,” Dunbar said.USC has several tall players, but IU has prepared for the height difference. “I think we have seen players of their size before. We just haven’t seen all of them that size,” Haverly said. “We have worked in practice to try to use their height to our advantage.” Dunbar explained that getting blocks on USC’s outside hitters will be important.“I think they have some weaknesses. They are going to try and exploit those weaknesses,” Dunbar said. One of the main strategies Dunbar wants to see is an attacking serve that doesn’t allow the Trojans to set up their offense. With this point of emphasis, the Hoosiers will try to give USC its fifth loss of the season while continuing their own playoff run.“We want to keep extending this journey as long as it goes,” Dunbar said.
(12/09/10 12:17am)
The Hoosiers first sweet 16 match in program history will be this Friday against USC.
(12/07/10 1:06pm)
Dayton, Ohio * UD Arena
(12/05/10 12:16am)
IU volleyball beat Tennessee in five sets Saturday afternoon to send them to their first NCAA Sweet 16.
(12/04/10 6:33pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU volleyball coaches and players rushed the court in celebration after a dramatic serve by a Tennessee freshman hit out of bounds.The IU volleyball team closed it out again in the NCAA tournament, advancing IU to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.The Hoosiers (23-11) won two matches this weekend against Miami (Fla.) and No. 11 seed Tennessee, both in five sets.“I love this team and how they refuse to quit,” IU coach Sherry Dunbar said.The Hoosiers were the third team in the tournament to advance after Saturday’s win against the Lady Volunteers gave them their fifth victory against a top-25 team this season.“I think it’s just that mentality that the game is on the line and we are playing to make the Sweet 16,” junior libero Caitlin Cox said.IU rallied back from a 10-8 deficit in the fifth set to claim match point and won when Tennessee setter Kylann Scheidt erred on serve.The Hoosiers’ two kills leaders powered their offensive attack during the weekend.Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Haverly and senior middle blocker Ashley Benson totaled 51 and 39 kills, respectively.IU’s wins at home this weekend capped off a 13-2 record at University Gym.“When we are at home, we have this confidence that no one can beat us,” senior middle blocker Taylor Wittmer said.The Hoosiers defeated the Lady Volunteers after battling for five sets, winning by scores of 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 27-25 and 15-13.Haverly led both teams with a career-high 30 kills, and she also dug 14 balls.“The whole weekend she played a very complete game,” Dunbar said. “She just refuses to lose, and that’s why I’m thrilled that she’s at Indiana.”Benson added 14 kills and six block assists in her last game at University Gym.Junior setter Mary Chaudoin dished out the volleyball and finished with match-high 41 assists.Although the Lady Volunteers claimed a 61-53 edge in digs, Cox stepped up in the fourth and fifth set, finishing the match with 16 digs and two aces.“Caitlin made some unbelievable digs today,” Dunbar said.Dunbar talked about the experience that the freshmen are receiving from tournament play.Freshman defensive specialists Caitlin Hansen and Melanie Hicks dug 18 and 12 balls, respectively, on the weekend.Wittmer explained how consistently making the NCAA tournament is what they are looking for.“I think we wanted to set that standard that Indiana is going to do this every single year from now on,” Wittmer said.On Friday, IU will face No. 6 seed USC (27-4) in Dayton, Ohio, for a shot to advance to the Elite Eight.Dunbar stressed that the Hoosiers are going to leave it all out on the floor in UD Arena.“We are going to go out and give it our all next weekend,” Dunbar said.
(12/04/10 3:01am)
IU volleyball (22-11) beat the Miami Hurricanes (23-9) in five sets Friday night at University Gym in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers won 19-25, 25-18, 25-13, 20-25, and 15-9 to earn just their third trip in school history to the tournament's second round.
(12/03/10 11:44pm)
Click here to join the live chat of tonight's match.
(12/03/10 11:17pm)
In the first round of the NCAA tournament, IU volleyball (21-11) takes on Miami (Fla.) (23-8) tonight at 7 pm at University Gym.