Senior lets game speak for itself

If you want to find a quiet leader who lets his game speak for itself, look no farther than senior Mike Pinger.\nWith IU's men's club volleyball team resting at the top of the standings in the Midwest (7-0), Pinger, a co-captain, is the one player who can remember just a few years ago, when the team was winless.\nThose days are long gone. The team has resurrected, setting its sights on winning a Big Ten and maybe a national championship.\nCoach Dave Boos said Pinger's contributions have been vital to the team's success this year.\n"Mike is definitely one of the best athletes physically in the country at the club level," Boos said.\nTeam president and co-captain Jeremy Levy, a sophomore, said he considers the 6-foot-5 quiet giant from Muncie the best player in the Big Ten.\n"This team is balanced, but Mike is our go-to-guy," Levy said. "He makes me work harder because of his talent. You just want to work harder to play like him. He's very modest about his game, too."\nFreshman Chris Reilly said Pinger provides leadership to a young team with only three upperclassmen. \n"He is the captain when we step on the court," Reilly said. "When the team is down, he will make a great play and get us back into a game. He gives all-out effort."\nPinger is the tallest member of the team, and said volleyball just seemed like a natural fit for him. He played club volleyball in high school because his school didn't offer the sport at the varsity level. In his sophomore year at IU, Pinger went to London for a semester and then transfered to Ball State University upon returning home. In his one semester at school in Muncie, he played on the school's club team. Pinger said after playing there, and then returning to Bloomington for his junior year, his career blossomed.\nAs a computer science major, Pinger said he chose IU for its academics as opposed to going to a school with a varsity volleyball team.\n"Volleyball is fun, but school is important, too," he said. "I would love for IU to have a varsity team, but I'm fine playing on the club level."\nPinger was named to the 2000 Big Ten Conference First Team as a middle blocker. Even though Pinger's size makes him a force at the net, he said he enjoys playing back row more because "it takes talent digging a ball out of the back."\nBoos said playing in the back shows how good Pinger is, because it stresses talent rather then size.\n"He is definitely a go-to-guy for a kill, but for a big guy he is really great defensively and passing the ball from the back," Boos said. \nPinger said he would like nothing more than to end the season, and his career, with a Big Ten title. Danny Donohue, the only other senior on the team, said he has seen Pinger's progression during the years.\n"Mike isn't the most agile guy on the team, but he uses his size and ability well," Donohue said. "Most importantly, though, Mike makes everything fun."\nPinger said he thinks the team is good enough to win the conference championship this year. Even if it doesn't win it, he said the most important thing is to watch the program continue to improve, even after he leaves.\nPinger isn't worried much about next year. He's too focused on bringing home a title this season, whether it be Big Ten or national championship.\n"It's been fun watching the team grow over the years from a loser to a winner," Pinger said. "And I hope to end my career on top as a champion"