Team signs four recruits

The IU women's volleyball team announced Monday that four high school seniors have signed letters of intent to attend IU beginning in the fall of 2004.\nIU coach Katie Weismiller will welcome Gabrielle Allison (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine), Lauren Ditteon (Terre Haute, Ind./South Vigo), Annie Moddrell (Freeburg, Ill./Freeburg Community) and Christine Nilles (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) to Bloomington.\n"I'm very excited about this recruiting class," said Weismiller in a statement. "We're adding a lot of much-need offense to our team next fall. We lose a couple of key players offensively, but we are bringing in more power. I think four or five years from now, we are going to be very disappointed to see this class graduate."\nAllison plays both volleyball and basketball at New Palestine. She was named the Hancock County Volleyball Player of the Year as well as a member of the Hancock All-County first team. Allison will continue the Hoosiers' tradition of excellence in the classroom as she was honorable mention academic all-state and is a member of the National Honor Society.\nDitteon, a first-team all-state selection, set school records with 361 kills and 68 service aces and broke the school career mark with 151 service aces. Like Allison, Ditteon is a member of the National Honor Society and is a member of the Terre Haute South Vigo High School basketball team. She is a three-time all-conference member in volleyball and was named all-conference in basketball in 2002.\nNilles, a 6'1" outside hitter from Mundelein High School, set and broke numerous records during her career. The 2003 Daily Herald and Pioneer Press Player of the Year set a Mundelein single-season record with 429 kills and a new school mark with 1,052 career kills. Nilles is strong defensively as she compiled over 300 digs each of the last two seasons, including a school record 326 this year. Nilles also set school records with 204 career service aces and 727 career service points.\nThe fourth and final piece to IU's 2003 recruiting class is Moddrell. The Freeburg, Ill., native was named Prep Sports Athlete of the Week by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and led Freeburg to four-straight regional championships. In 2002, she earned first-team all-conference honors, first-team all-area honors and was honorable mention all-state. Moddrell is also a member of the National Honor Society and received "Who's Who Among High School Students" honors.\nWith four Hoosiers departing the squad after this season, the incoming class, like the freshmen this season, will have an opportunity to earn early playing time and contribute to the Hoosiers' success.