Indiana Hoosiers Volleyball Team Prepped for NCAA Volleyball Tournament
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - University Gym will serve as a host venue for NCAA Volleyball Tournament First and Second Round matches this weekend. The Indiana Volleyball program (21-11) is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Championship, and first since 2002.
No. 11-seed Tennessee (24-6) and Alabama A&M (16-10) are slated to take the court first, however, facing off in the opening match of the weekend at 5 pm. The Hoosiers are up next, taking on the 23-8 Miami Hurricanes, winners of their last five contests. Saturday's second round match pitting Friday's victors against each other is set to begin at 3 pm inside University Gym.
Video for all three matches will be streamed live at IUHoosiers.com. In addition, a live audio broadcast for Indiana's matches will also be available at IUHoosiers.com.
FIRST/SECOND ROUND COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Bloomington, Ind. • University Gym
FIRST ROUND • FRIDAY, DEC. 3
5 p.m.- No. 11-seed Tennessee (24-6) vs. Alabama A&M (16-10)
7 p.m.- Indiana (21-11) vs. Miami (FL) (23-8)
SECOND ROUND • SATURDAY, DEC. 4
3 p.m.- Tennessee/Alabama A&M vs. Indiana/Miami
FAMILIAR FACES, DIFFERENT PLACES
If Indiana advances to the second round on Saturday, IU Head Coach Sherry Dunbar will certainly know the coach on the opposite side of the net. Before taking over the College of Charleston program in 2003, Dunbar served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Tennessee's head coach, Rob Patrick, for six seasons. The Hoosiers could also face Nedra Brown's Alabama A&M Bulldogs squad, a team they've played the past two seasons. Indiana tallied 3-0 victories over AAMU both earlier this season and at a home tournament a year ago.
BETTERING YOURSELF
Caitlin Cox's 488 digs and in 2009 and Ashley Benson's 167 total blocks in `08 are the IU single-season records heading into the weekend, but both Hoosiers are hot on the trail of knocking themselves off the perch and resetting the school's all-time marks. Cox needs to dig 29 balls to push her season total to 289 while Benson is just 11 rejections shy of reaching 168 blocks.
BIG TEN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Ashley Benson and Jordan Haverly have eached been named the Big Ten Player of the Week twice this season. Benson ended her regular season career by snagging the final weekly honor of the 2010 season on Monday.
Benson has racked up four such accolades in her career, in addition to, three Defensive Player of the Week honors. Haverly, meanwhile, has a pair of Player of the Week recognitions this season to go along with three Freshman of the Week laurels a season ago.
RECORD BOOK ONSLAUGHT
With two single-season school records (hitting percentage, total blocks) already on her resume, senior middle blocker Ashley Benson now has the career record books in her sights.
She set the school's all-time record most career blocks earlier this season and is now simply piling on to the mark with 614 stuffs heading into the weekend.
Benson has also virtually guaranteed herself the No. 1 slot for hitting efficiency as her .338 career clip is 48 percentage points higher than the next closest Hoosier. She has racked up 1,440 kills as well, elevating her to fifth all-time.
Libero Caitlin Cox is also climbing up the career rankings. With at least one match and an entire 2011 season left in Bloomington, Cox already owns the single-season digs mark and needs only 174 more to surpass Juli Pierce as the school's all-time Digs Queen.
In addition, Mary Chaudoin and Taylor Wittmer's career totals of 2,382 assists and 392 blocks slot them both 7th all-time in those respective categories.
BIG TEN DOING BIG THINGS
The Big Ten Conference led the country with 10 league schools earning berths into the 2010 NCAA Tournament, tying the conference record. Four league schools earned top-seeds, and five are playing host to first/second round action.
In the RPI, the Big Ten has three of the top-7 and five in the top-25.
The Big Ten had an overall non-conference record of 106-17 (.862) heading into the weekend.
BOOSTING THE RESUME
In the final weekend of the regular season, the Hoosiers made the NCAA Selection Committee's job a bit easier, defeating No. 10 Illinois and Wisconsin in a combined seven sets, nearly assuring their selection as an at-large bid. Ashley Benson was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for her dominating performance over that weekend,
