ISU Volleyball

Sept. 13, 2005
Volleyball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SYCAMORES START MVC ACTION WITH TOUGH ROAD TRIP

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State will face a significant challenge as it travels to Missouri State and Wichita State to open up Missouri Valley Conference action this weekend (Sept. 16-17). The trip is not only the longest road trip for the Sycamores this season, it is also against the defending MVC champion and runner-up who were picked by the coaches to finish first and second, respectively, in the preseason poll. ISU is seeking its first win on the Wichita-Springfield road swing since 2000, when it earned a 3-1 win against WSU.

Last Time Out
• The Sycamores faced some elite competition last weekend at the Dayton Invitational. ISU opened the tournament by taking the first two games against undefeated, and eventual champion, Mississippi State. However, the Bulldogs came storming back and pulled out a 15-12 victory in the fifth game to earn the win. ISU then took a game in a tightly contested match against the host school, Dayton, before dropping a 3-0 decision to Virginia.

All-Tournament Honors
• Tera Fish was named to the Marriott Flyer All-Invitational team after she recorded double-doubles in all three matches. Fish began the tourney with 39 assists and 10 digs against Mississippi State, before she posted 11 kills and 37 assists against Dayton. She finished off the weekend with 26 assists and 10 digs against Virginia. Fish had an excellent weekend overall averaging 1.7 kills, 8.5 assists, 1.2 digs and 0.7 blocks.

Block Party
• Freshman Christy Trame is off to an impressive start to her career, especially on defense as she leads the MVC with 11 block solos and is averaging 1.18 blocks per game overall. Over the weekend, Trame posted 20 blocks, including a career-high eight against Dayton.

Cox is Diggin’ It
• Freshman Kristy Cox has taken over the role of libero and has shown she can handle the job. Cox is leading the MVC with 166 digs on the season. She tallied 26 digs against Eastern Illinois, marking the third most digs in a three-game match in ISU history. Cox followed up that performance by averaging 5.25 digs per game at the Dayton Invitational. Cox played club volleyball with Municiana, which has a long history of producing excellent defensive players, including ISU’s record-setting libero from last season, Kelly Spisak.

Scouting Report
Missouri State (4-5)
• MSU has faced a tough non-conference slate to open the 2005 season, including No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara and No. 8 Florida. Last weekend the Bears defeated Arkansas and Iowa State, before falling to Utah. Katie Werges leads the Bears offense averaging 4.6 kills per game, while Sabrina Apker has tallied 2.7 kills per game with a team-best .299 attack percentage and 1.6 blocks per game, which ranks second in the MVC.
Wichita State (5-2)
• WSU is the defending MVC regular season and tournament champion and the preseason favorite to repeat. The Shockers have won three straight heading into a Tuesday night matchup against North Texas. WSU’s two losses came at the hands of Michigan State and Stephen F. Austin. The Shockers have five players averaging more than 2.5 kills per game but no one averaging more than three. WSU leads the MVC with a .274 hitting percentage and holds its opponents to a league-best .105 attacking mark.

Havoc In the Middle
• Middle blockers Tessa Wolf and Christy Trame created some havoc at the Dayton Invitational as they each recorded double-digit kill totals in all three matches. In addition, they led ISU to some impressive blocking totals as the Sycamores averaged 9.3 blocks per match, with Trame leading the way with 20 blocks, including a career-high eight against Dayton.

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. Fish is posting 8.5 assists, 1.8 digs and 1.3 kills per game in her first season as the Sycamore quarterback.

Wolf Attack
• Senior Tessa Wolf is leading the Sycamores’ offensive attack this season. Wolf has posted double-digit kills in six matches, including each of the last three. She leads the Sycamores with 2.77 kills per game and a .200 attack percentage. She tallied 16 kills against Austin Peay, which is a single-match high for ISU this 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 3.34 digs per game, while also posting 1.60 kills per game.

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.

Head Coach Julie Krofcheck
• Julie Krofcheck is in her third season in charge of the ISU bench. In the first two seasons of the Krofcheck era, the Sycamores finished in the top six of the MVC standings and earned trips to the postseason, which had never been done in back-to-back years at Indiana State. Krofcheck has posted a 26-40 record at Indiana State.

Up Next
• After four weekends and 12 matches on the road, the Sycamores will finally open the 2005 home slate with MVC contests against Creighton and Drake next weekend (Sept. 23-24). The Sycamores have had some success against the two school in the Krofcheck era. ISU has won all four matches against Drake and three of the four meetings against Creighton under the current Sycamore general.