Chaudoin gives IU fans volleyball view

Her face beaming, sophomore setter Mary Chaudoin pops onto the computer screen and greets viewers, ready to take them on a tour that extends beyond University Gym.

This volleyball season, thanks to Chaudoin, fans can see deeper into the happenings of the Hoosiers.

Chaudoin is the host of “Here’s Something from Mary,” a video blog on the 2009 IU volleyball team. A new episode launches every Monday during the season.

“I think I’ve got some good stuff,”  Chaudoin said.

Chaudoin said she was approached by the IU media relations staff directly to unveil the happenings of the team.

“Our media relations guy, Kyle Kuhlman, came up to me and said, ‘You know, we have a great idea,’” Chaudoin said. “‘You should do a video blog ... And you can show everyone, kind of give them a little bit of an insight into what it is to be an IU volleyball player.’ I said, ‘Okay, you know, whatever.’”

Chaudoin said Kuhlman told her the project is at her discretion and that she can show anything about the team she wishes.

“I said, ‘Well, do I have to follow any rules?’ And he was like, ‘No, as long as it can be aired and I don’t get into trouble, you can do whatever you want,’” Chaudoin said.

For the Atlanta native, the process of creating videos about the team to share with all of Hoosier Nation is entirely new, but simply making videos is a different story.

“I’ve always made goofy videos with my friends back home and stuff like that,” Chaudoin said. “But I’ve never done anything to this extent that’s been viewed so publicly.”

Five episodes have run in “Here’s Something from Mary” thus far in the 2009 season. The first offers a glimpse of a typical evening after practice during the preseason.

The second entry takes place in Houston, where the team swept the Flo Hyman Tournament.

Chaudoin included a tour of the team bus, an MTV “Cribs” look into the house of freshman outside hitter and Houston native Shawn Hindman’s family and a Hoosier fashion show.

The team’s sideline introduction at IU’s first football game and its trip to Athens, Ohio for a tournament are also included in the weekly series.

Chaudoin said she has really enjoyed playing host on the video blog thus far and hopes to continue making videos for the team beyond 2009.

“If they ask me to, I’ll do it,” she said. “I think it would be cool to kind of look back on my years here, kind of have a video yearbook.”