No. 12 Hoosiers set for weekend home matches

As the wins continue to build up for the 4-1 IU field hockey team, so do the accolades. \nWith the release of the first National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll of the 2005 season, the Hoosiers find themselves ranked No. 12, the highest any IU team has been ranked in the history of the program. \n"It's a good position to be in -- not too high, but not too low either," head coach Amy Robertson said. "We expected to be ranked, but it's nice to get the recognition as a team that's coming up."\nIndividually, two Hoosier players also received honors for their play in last week's matches. After recording seven saves and a shutout against the University of the Pacific, sophomore goalkeeper Haley Exner was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Exner is the second Hoosier this season to win player of the week honors, the first being junior forward Lydia Schrott. Despite earning her second shutout of the season, Exner said she was surprised she won the award.\n"People started calling me this week saying, 'Congratulations,' but I didn't really know what they were talking about. I thought they meant for the shutout," Exner said. "Then I found out I was named the Defensive Player of the Week, and I was really excited -- I had never won an honor like that before."\nIn addition to Exner's recognition, senior midfielder Kayla Bashore was named Indiana Athletics Athlete of the Week on the strength of her hat trick performance in the win over Pacific. \nThe newly-ranked Hoosiers will play a pair of home matches this weekend, taking on Ohio University Saturday before facing Southwest Missouri State Sunday. Both matches will start at 1 p.m. in Mellencamp Pavilion. \nSaturday's match will mark the first match between the Hoosiers and the 1-4 Ohio Bobcats.\nAfter Saturday's matchup against Ohio, the Hoosiers will welcome the 0-4 Southwest Missouri State Bears. IU defeated the Bears last year 4-3 in overtime and leads the all-time series 2-1. \nDespite the records of both teams and the Big Ten conference season looming around the corner, Robertson doesn't want her team to overlook any opponent.\n"We're taking the season one game at a time, and we want to get better and better with each game we play and continue to win these home matches," Robertson said. \nSenior co-captain Lesley Wiler echoed Robertson's sentiments when she explained the importance of not looking ahead on the schedule.\n"We have to continue to focus on improving and playing our game. We'll play the Big Ten teams when it's time to play them," Wiler said.