ISU Volleyball

Sept. 4, 2005
Volleyball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SYCAMORES HOST TOP TIER MVC FOES THIS WEEKEND

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State hosts first-place Bradley (10-6, 5-0) and perennial MVC power Northern Iowa (10-6, 4-1) this weekend at ISU Arena. The Sycamores swept the Braves last season, but BU has found new life of late as they have gone 10-1 since losing its first five matches of the season. Included in that stretch is a perfect 5-0 mark in conference action, which leads the MVC. UNI has won 15 straight matches against the Sycamores. This season the Panthers are 4-1 in Valley action, with their only loss coming last week at Bradley.

Last Time Out
• The Sycamores dropped two matches at Evansville and Southern Illinois last weekend. The losses snapped a six-year streak of at least one victory on the UE-SIU road trip. Tessa Wolf led ISU with 11 kills against Evansville, while Katie Freeman posted six kills against SIU. Meghan Pollard and Kristy Cox tied for the team lead in digs in both matches.

Freshman Climbing Records List
• Freshman Kristy Cox is already making an impact on the ISU record book. Cox has 221 digs on the season, which ranks ninth among all ISU freshman totals (pg. 6). To put her season in perspective, Cox’s 4.17 digs per game average ranks second all-time at ISU, behind only Kelly Spisak’s 2005 MVC record-setting total (6.13/game).

Wolf Attack
• Tessa Wolf led ISU with 11 kills against Evansville, marking the seventh time this season she has led the squad. Wolf posted 17 kills with a .344 attack percentage against Drake to set an ISU season-high for kills in a match. She now has three of the top four kill totals for the Sycamores this season and leads ISU with 2.79 kills per game.

Pollard Leads The Way
• Meghan Pollard tied for the team lead in digs in both matches over the weekend after accomplishing the feat just one time in the previous 14 matches. Pollard averaged 3.17 digs per game after she posted nine against Evansville and 10 against Southern Illinois. She is averaging 1.89 digs per game on the season, which ranks third on the team.

Scouting Report
Bradley Braves (10-6, 5-0)
• Bradley has been on fire over the past month having won 10 of 11 and seven in a row. The Braves have climbed to the top of the MVC standings with a perfect 5-0 mark, after being picked sixth in the preseason coaches poll. BU is led by All-America candidate Lindsay Stalzer. Stalzer is a two-time First Team All-MVC selection and has already garnered three MVC Player of the Week awards this season. Stalzer recorded 36 kills in a win over DePaul last week, which tied the second highest total in MVC history and is the second-highest total in the country this season. On the year, she is averaging 5.69 kills per game which ranks seventh in NCAA Division I.

Northern Iowa Panthers (10-6, 4-1)
• Northern Iowa sits in third place among MVC squads, but enters this weekend with a two-match losing streak, falling to Bradley and Iowa last week. The Panthers played a difficult non-conference schedule, including three ranked opponents. UNI is looking to regain its spot on top of The Valley as last season the Panthers failed to win the MVC regular season or tournament title for the first time since 1997. Laura Rowen leads the Panthers offensive attack with 3.78 kills per game, while Danielle Brazda is averaging 1.84 blocks per game which ranks in the top 10 nationally.

Trame Trumping Opponents
• After posting three block solos over the weekend, Christy Trame moved into sixth place on the all-time ISU freshman list with 16 on the season. Trame’s block solo total also leads the MVC this year. In addition, she is second on the team averaging 2.19 kills per game.

Cox is Diggin’ It
• Kristy Cox tied for the team lead in digs in both matches last weekend. Cox recorded 10 digs against SIU, which is the 12th time she has posted 10+ digs in the first 16 matches of her career. She has also led the team in digs in 14 matches. Earlier in the year, Cox tallied a season-best 26 digs against Eastern Illinois, setting an ISU freshman record and marking the third most digs in a three-game match in ISU history.

Triple the Fun
• Junior Tera Fish posted a triple-double in just her fifth contest with the Sycamores after transferring to ISU from Dixie State College. Fish recorded 10 kills, 15 digs and 45 assists against Austin Peay with a .571 attack percentage. It is the second triple-double for the Sycamores in a span of 21 matches, as Kerri Byrum notched one last season against Bradley. Prior to Byrum, the feat had not been accomplished by a Sycamore in over four years.

Fresh Start
• Freshman Alisha Polite earned the starting nod against Wichita State marking the fourth freshmen, and fifth newcomer, this season to crack the starting lineup. In addition, Kristy Cox has been on the floor at the start of almost every match at the libero position, but liberos are not credited with official starts.

Setting It Up
• Tera Fish and Alisha Polite each recorded double-digit assist totals against both Creighton and Drake. It is the first time the Sycamores have had two players with 10+ assist totals in a match since the 2002 season.

Freeman Does It All
• Senior Katie Freeman has continued her excellent play in several different aspects of the game. Freeman is second on the squad averaging 2.92 digs per game, while also posting 1.70 kills per game. She has stepped up her play in conference action as she is second on the team with 1.89 kills per game. In addition, Freeman went over 700 career digs last week and sits at 708 for her career.

Large Footwear
• The 2005 squad has some big shoes to fill after the Sycamores lost six major contributors from last season. ISU lost over 70 percent of its kills, digs and blocks from a year ago and its starting setter, who accounted for 86 percent of its assists. In addition, the 2004 seniors won a total of 30 Missouri Valley Conference matches during their career, the most ever by a four-year Sycamore class.

Not Your Ordinary Smith
• Senior Sarah Smith hit the half-century mark earlier this season as she went over 500 kills for her career. Smith now has 545 kills in four seasons which is the most of any current Sycamore. She has also continued her efficient attacking style as she is second on the team with a .176 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.00 kills per game. Smith’s career .233 attack percentage ranks seventh on ISU’s all-time list.

High Marks
• The Sycamores earned the AVCA All-Academic Team Award for the seventh consecutive year in 2004. ISU is one of only two NCAA Division I schools to have earned the honor each of the seven seasons it has been awarded. To receive the award the team must maintain at least a 3.30 grade point average for the season. Last season, the Sycamores tallied a 3.60 GPA as a team.

Up Next
• The Sycamores travel to Illinois State (8-6, 4-2) for a Saturday (Oct. 15) night MVC match, before travelling to IPFW (12-2) for a non-conference affair on Sunday (Oct. 16) at 5:00 pm.