Junior Erica Short |
Exciting Weekend Coming Up For IU Volleyball
Oct. 10, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Hoosier Hysteria festivities will be kicked off on Friday by the volleyball match between Indiana and Michigan State at 7 p.m. The Hoosiers enter the weekend at 12-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten, tied for fourth in the conference standings.
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Saturday night is then "Jam the Gym" night at University Gym where high schools and middle schools from across the state are invited to attend the match for free. On Wednesday, Oct. 17th the Purdue Boilermakers come to town and the match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Fans are encouraged to show their Hoosier pride and wear Crimson to that match. Indiana will also participate in "Dig for the Cure" on Oct. 26. in the fight against breast cancer. In addition to pledged amounts, all proceeds from t-shirt sales that day will go directly to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Wabash Valley Affiliate.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana did it again last Friday night at Illinois, outlasting the Fighting Illinois in a five-game thriller, the Hoosiers second five-game road Big Ten victory of the year. Senior Lauren Ditteon stuffed the stat sheet with 17 kills, eight blocks, seven digs and two service aces. Sophomore Kelsey Hall also posted good numbers for the match with 11 kills and a team-high 20 digs.
Trailing 14-12 in game five and staring match point in the face, the Hoosiers needed a side-out to stay alive. Junior Erica Short provided that point with a clutch kill to put the ball in the hands of an IU server. Hilgenberg, an Illinois native, stepped to the service line and delivered a bullet that Illinois's Laura Debruler couldn't handle for the ace. Her next serve was another laser that put the Illinois offense out of sync. The point was ended with a Ditteon-Moddrell block combo for a 15-14 edge and a match point of their own. Indiana capitalized on the very next point with a Ditteon kill, set up perfectly by Hilgenberg for IU's fourth consecutive point and the match victory.
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Unfortunately, IU then suffered a 3-0 setback at #9 Wisconsin Saturday night. The Hoosiers nearly took game two in Madison with two game point opportunities, before eventually falling just short in the 33-31 decision.
COMEBACK KIDS
Don't make a mistake and count out this Hoosier squad at any point. Indiana is 4-0 in five-game matches thus far and has had to win both games four and five in all of those contests. In fact, the Cream and Crimson dug themselves an 0-2 deficit in two of those matches before rebounding by capturing the next three games for the 3-2 victory.
PIERCE CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE
Senior Juli Pierce needs 35 more digs to crack the millennium mark in career digs, sitting at 965 career digs before the start of this weekend.
She would become the just the eighth player in IU history to record 1,000 digs. In fact, if she keeps her current pace this season, Pierce will surpass Cydryce Carter (1996-99) for third place on the all-time list in just three years donning the Cream and Crimson.
SENIOR SPARK PLUGS
Senior middle blockers Gabrielle Allison and Annie Moddrell have proved to be key cogs in both of the come-from-behind, five-game road wins at Iowa and Illinois. Allison recorded five kills and a career-high nine blocks (two solo) against the Hawkeyes while Moddrell connected on 10 kills and five rejections. The tandem sparked the Hoosier surge verus the Fighitng Illini as well, combining for 11 kills and 12 blocks.
BIG TEN RANKINGS
Indiana's 113 service aces are second to none in the Big Ten Conference and their 1.71 aces per game average ranks as the third best in the conference. Senior Juli Pierce leads the way at the service line, responsible for 31 aces thus far, the second most in the Big Ten. Other Hoosiers present in the Big Ten statistical rankings are Erica Short's 4.50 kills per game (4th), Lauren Ditteon's 26 aces (4th), Mara Hilgenberg's 12.35 assists/game (6th), and Pierce's 3.85 digs/game (8th).
SHORT'S SHOT SELECTION
Junior Erica Short has had little problem racking up kills, recording 10 or more put-aways in every match but one. However, the key has been shot selection and hitting efficiency. When Short hits over .200, the Hoosiers are a perfect 8-0 on the season.
DITTEON DITTEON
Senior Lauren Ditteon has recorded six double-doubles thus far and the Hoosiers have won all six contests in which she has done so. The Terre Haute, Indiana native has also twice come just two blocks shy of pulling off a triple-double.
BIG TEN WEEKEND #2
The Hoosiers hosted their first "true" home matches in University Gym on Sept. 28-29, welcoming #3 Penn State and Ohio State (the adidas Classic was held at Assembly Hall). The Nittany Lions showed why they were ranked in the nation's top three and recorded the 3-0 victory. However, Indiana bounced back the next night in a big way with a 3-1 win over Ohio State, whom was also nationally-ranked earlier this season.
Junior Erica Short recorded 27 kills while hitting .400 in the win. Senior Lauren Ditteon recorded her sixth double-double of the season, posting 16 kills and 10 digs. The Terre Haute native also chipped in three blocks, two assists, two service aces and a .419 hitting efficiency. Freshman Mara Hilgenberg averaged 15 assists per game with a match total of 60 helpers. Freshman Taylor Wittmer also contributed to the Hoosiers' .315 team hitting percentage by connecting on 10 kills with just two errors on 18 swings (.444).
CRACKING THE TOP TEN
A pair of Hoosiers etched their names into the IU record books in the Big Ten opener at Iowa. Seniors Annie Moddrell and Juli Pierce each vaulted into the top ten all-time in a career statistical category.
Moddrell, who's 245 block assists were already in the top ten, increased her career total blocks amount to 278, the eighth most in school history. The Freeburg, Ill. native also needs just 12 more solo blocks to complete the all-time top ten blocks trifecta. Most impressive, however, is her .270 career hitting efficiency which is currently the fourth-best percentage ever at IU.
Pierce, meanwhile, also cracked the top ten by compiling her 911th career dig against the Hawkeyes. She's done so in just two-plus years of action after sitting out the `05 season.
Also, Junior Erica Short's 1,153 kills puts her on pace to easily break into the top ten this season (46 kills shy) and eventually rank as high as #2 all-time in career kills before the end of her senior season.
