2008 Season Outlook
The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team will take the court in
2008 with aspirations of getting back to the upper-echelons in the Great
Lakes Valley Conference and into the NCAA Division II Tournament for the
first time since 2004.
USI returns five starters from a 2007 squad that qualified for the GLVC
Tournament for the ninth consecutive season, posting a record of 15-14
overall, 9-10 in the GLVC.
Among fourth-year Head Coach Leah Mercer’s
list of returning players is senior
Margaret Buschman.
Buschman, a 6’1” middle blocker, was second on the team a year ago with 2.70
kills per game and 3.22 points per game. She also was the squad’s
second-most efficient attacker, racking up a .273 attacking percentage, and
was third on the team in blocks per game (0.82).
Mercer will count on Buschman to lead a youthful squad that includes
five juniors, two sophomores, and three freshmen.
USI’s junior class includes outside hitter
Courtney Bealor, middle
blocker Ashley Henricks,
right side hitter/setter Kathi
Hindman, outside hitter
Jaclyn Johnson, and
setter Melanie Pund.
Pund figures to have the biggest impact on the Screaming Eagles’ lineup this
year as she takes over the fulltime setter duties. In 2007, Pund saw action
as a setter, a right side hitter, a defensive specialist, and a libero. She
took over the full-time setter duties late in the season, averaging 11.79
assists per game as the team’s starting setter.
Bealor and Hindman will be two of Pund’s top targets in 2008 after solid
sophomore campaigns last season. Bealor averaged 2.55 kills and 2.48 digs
per game last year, while the left-handed Hindman had break-out performances
on the right side, including a 21-kill performance against St. Cloud State.
Henricks continued to be a dominating defensive presence in the middle in
2007, ranking ninth in the GLVC with 1.12 blocks per game. She set a
single-season school record as a freshman in 2006 when she racked up 122
block assists.
Sophomore outside hitter
Brittani Oliver and sophomore defensive specialist
Janae Curnutt will need to
become big factors for the Eagles if they are to go deep into the
post-season in 2008. Oliver averaged 2.67 kills and 1.51 digs per game
during her freshman campaign, while Curnutt, who averaged 2.22 digs per game
in 2007, came on strong in the last six matches as she recorded
double-figure dig totals in four of those contests.
USI’s freshman class includes setter/defensive specialist
Stephanie Berg, defensive
specialist Krista Coccaro, and middle blocker/outside hitter
Taylor Reed.
Reed earned All-City and All-District honors as a senior at Whitmer High
School (Toledo, Ohio) and played for the prestigious 18-1 Toledo Volleyball
Club this past spring.
Coccaro made a name for herself in the club ranks where she participated in
the Indy Juniors program in high school. She played for the Indiana
Volleyball Academy 18’s team this past spring and was a member of Carmel
High School’s 2006 sectional championship squad.
Berg, a three-sport athlete at Gibault Catholic High School (Waterloo,
Illinois), led her squad in assists and serving percentage while earning
All-Area honors as a senior in 2007.
In 2008, the Eagles will waste little time acclimating themselves to tough
competition. USI starts the year with defending NCAA II Great Lakes Region
champion Grand Valley State University at the “Middle of Everywhere” Classic
in Rolla, Missouri.
The Eagles also will play 2007 NCAA II Tournament participant Pittsburg
State University during the opening weekend before taking on NCAA II
Tournament semifinalist Washburn University the next week in St. Louis,
Missouri.
Grand Valley State, which won the national championship in 2005, will be one
of two former national champions on the Eagles’ slate. USI hosts former NCAA
II champion University of North Alabama September 30.
In addition to a tough non-conference schedule, the Eagles will battle
through a tough conference that featured four NCAA II Tournament squads last
season, one of which has moved to Division I.
The Eagles begin GLVC play as well as their 10-game home slate September 12
when they host Missouri University of Science and Technology. The Eagles
host 2007 NCAA II Tournament participants University of Indianapolis and
Northern Kentucky University September 23 and 26, respectively, and make a
trip to two-time defending GLVC champions Lewis University October 3.
USI also has home-and-home series with GLVC West Division foes Missouri S&T,
Rockhurst University, Drury University, and the University of Missouri-St.
Louis. The Eagles will play GLVC West Division opponent Quincy University at
home on October 31 and November 1.
In 2008, all sets will be played to 25 instead of 30, with the fifth and
deciding set being played to 15.
