Volleyball managers vital to team

It's a thankless job, freshman volleyball manager Jeremy Evans said. But somebody's got to do it.\nNot many people would volunteer to schedule all their classes in the morning so they could make it to daily practice five days a week, for almost three hours each day. And not many people would volunteer to do that so they could set up nets, put tape on the floors to mark the courts and set up video equipment.\nBut that's exactly what Evans, freshman J.T. Gripe and senior Zheng Xiang do. Xiang and Evans receive a major bonus from it: They are splitting a scholarship, but Gripe does the job for free.\n"I wanted to do this so I could hear what they were telling the players at a Big Ten school," Gripe said. "I just wanted to learn and get involved in something."\nArriving to practice almost an hour ahead of the team, they make sure everything is in order for the team. When all their pre-practice tasks are done, the managers hang around and help. They hit balls to the players, assist with drills and sometimes act as an opposing team to scrimmage the varsity volleyball team to help the Hoosiers get ready for the weekend's matches.\nBut that's just the managers' routine during practice.\nDuring the matches, the managers are responsible for recording statistics, making sure the opposing team is accommodated and maintaining the court. The managers also prepare the team for away matches by doing everything from packing the team's equipment bags to going grocery shopping.\n"Our managers are truly one of our biggest assets," coach Katie Weismiller said. "They are always there, always communicating. They do a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Every aspect of the game they are a part of."\nOne of these parts that the managers cover is laundry. Junior Julie Heimann, whose younger sister Beth is a freshman on the team, spends a few hours each week washing the players' practice uniforms and their game uniforms.\nHeimann gets paid for her job and gets to see friends.\n"It works out real nice because I get to make my own hours," she said. "It's a lot of work because they go through a lot of stuff. But I love working with the team."\nEvans, Gripe and Xiang are members of the men's club volleyball team, which is how they got involved in being managers. Assistant coach Dave Boos is the men's team coach and approached Evans and Gripe with the idea of being managers for the women's team. Xiang, who graduates in December, has been a manager since his freshman year.\nAfter the set-up is done and before the team arrives, the managers will occasionally play two-on-two with Boos filling in on one side. During set-up time, the managers can be found joking around and being playful. \n"They're fun guys," sophomore setter Laurie Gardner said. "Jeremy is a real nice guy, and J.T. is really funny and Xiang laughs at everything. They are just really easy to get along with. They are willing to help us with anything."\nAnother reason the guys got involved is to improve their own games. Gripe said the managers understood a new swing offense two months ahead of their men's volleyball teammates because they saw the women's team practice the offense.\nThey are also friends with the team off the court. Occasionally the managers will see a few of the players around campus and eat lunch with them. Evans and senior defensive specialist JoAnne Amstutz both take sign language classes, so they study together.\n"It's fun because when you are out of volleyball practice and you see another player in a normal situation, you can say 'hi,'" Gripe said. "You are introduced to so many more people, so it's an advantage."\nDespite all the hard work they put into it, and despite the "thankless" feeling the managers get, there are advantages to their position. And whether or not they realize it, the team recognizes all their work.\n"Without them, it would be so chaotic," Gardner said. "They have everything under control all the time. They do so much that we take for granted all the time"