A fresh outlook

They are new to IU, college volleyball and dorm life, and they are loving every minute of it. \nChristina Archibald, Stephanie Blevins, Karla Crose and Victoria Zimmerman are the four new freshmen faces this year on the volleyball team.\nArchibald has had a successful first season as an outside hitter for the Hoosiers and holds the team record so far this year with 251 kills. This Belleville, Ill., native says one of the best things about being on the team is the support of the upperclassmen.\n"From preseason until now, each older player has helped us in some way," Archibald said. "They know what it's like to be new and be a freshman."\nMiddle blocker Karla Crose, from Lincoln, Neb., says the best thing is being around the team.\n"We have such an awesome team and everybody has really bonded this year," Crose said. "It's been nice because we've been so accepted and made to feel like part of the team."\nEach freshmen has their favorite memory so far here at IU. Outside hitter Stephanie Blevins, who in high school was named the York Dispatch Volleyball Player of the Year in 2000, said her favorite memory is beating Penn State in one game.\n"Beating Penn State was a lot of fun because I'm from Pennsylvania," Blevins said.\nVictoria Zimmerman, from Barrington, Ill., remembers her favorite time so far this year as off the court, with the team.\n"My favorite is hearing Katie Pollom rap for the first time at Brewer's house. Now that was funny," she said.\nAs for practice, each of the women have a different area they dread the most. Blevins thought it was conditioning, while Zimmerman said it was driving.\n"I would say the mental drills we do, and preparing for the mental aspect of the game," Archibald said, with which all the women agreed.\nWhen it comes to getting pumped for a game, these freshman will listen to almost anything to get excited. The women even admitted to listening to 'NSync when getting ready for a game.\n"Christina listens to Linkin Park, but I like to listen to country," Zimmerman said as the other women seemed to disagree over her listening choice.\nAfter a hard night of playing on the court, these freshman like to take it easy.\n"If we win, we like to celebrate of course," Zimmerman said. "But it's always so much work in one night that sometimes we just relax after a game."\n"It's nice to just sit down and relax," Archibald said. "It's fun to just hang out and talk."\nDorm life for these women has been a positive experience. Zimmerman even said the food was pretty good. What the women enjoy most about the dorms is the people they've met. \n"It's fun because you meet a lot of different people," Krose said. "It gets a little loud sometimes when people blast their stereos at 12 o'clock in the morning when I'm trying to get to bed," Blevins said.\n"It's usually Christina!" Zimmerman said as they all laughed.\n"A lot of people don't understand what study hours are," Archibald said. "You have to deal with a lot of different people, but they're also great to meet and get to know."\nAfter a win over Iowa and a loss to Minnesota this weekend, as far as the rest of the season is\nconcerned, the freshmen on this team couldn't be more positive.\n"We're getting a lot better really fast now," Zimmerman said.\n"The season is going up from here," Crose said. "We're getting better every game. It's all coming together now and we're wondering why this couldn't have happened earlier"