Volleyball team ready for Friday opener
The IU volleyball team is hitting the road to begin its 2009 season Friday at the Flo Hyman Tournament in Houston.
The IU volleyball team is hitting the road to begin its 2009 season Friday at the Flo Hyman Tournament in Houston.
The IU volleyball team has its sights set on one goal as the fall approaches.
Whitney Thomas will take on a fifth year as a Hoosier athlete – this time wearing a volleyball uniform.
As many as 50 million children play an organized sport; less than 1 percent of these make it to playing professionally. IU volleyball’s Erica Short is part of that 1 percent.
The IU volleyball team has improved leaps and bounds during coach Sherry Dunbar’s two-year tenure.
Perhaps revenge is what it does best. The IU volleyball team scored two upsets against Iowa and No. 13 Minnesota, after losing to them both earlier this season. IU’s success now puts it 6-6 in the Big Ten and 14-10 overall.
The women’s volleyball team took a step backward last weekend on the road against Minnesota and Iowa, putting them 1-5 in the Big Ten with only 14 matches left. “We just didn’t show up,” said senior captain Erica Short. “We didn’t enter the building. I don’t know who played last weekend. It wasn’t an IU program at all.”
The IU volleyball team will finally get the luxury of facing an unranked team in the Big Ten.
The IU volleyball team might have thought it had it tough last weekend, facing two top-20 teams, Illinois and Purdue. But those teams are nothing compared to the next monster IU will encounter today at the University Gym.
The “no boys allowed” rule might apply to most women’s sports at IU, but not to the volleyball team. Sophomore Ryan Sullivan and junior Nate Jones have been practicing with the team since day one this season. “We met coach (Sherry Dunbar) last year,” Jones said. “I helped coach a Hoosierland team here at IU, and I met (IU assistant coach) Keith Schunzel one day, and, through a reference, they asked me to help out.”