New coach wants ‘feisty’ Hoosiers

Meet new IU volleyball coach Sherry Dunbar. \nComing to IU is sort of a homecoming for Dunbar. Even though she was born in California, she moved to Ellettsville, Ind. when she was 3 years old. She grew up there and played volleyball locally at Edgewood High School. Dunbar then went on to play collegiately at Ball State.\nBefore coming to IU, Dunbar flourished at her previous position as head coach at the College of Charleston, where she racked up 113 total wins in four seasons – good for a .837 win percentage. \nDuring the 2005 season, Dunbar’s team posted a school-best 32-2 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Other accomplishments that season included the Cougars posting the third-best winning percentage in the nation, with their only losses coming to a pair of ranked teams. \nDunbar’s team finished a perfect 18-0 in conference play that year, losing only three games in those matches. That perfect record extended the Cougars’ league winning streak to 33 matches.\nThe defensive-minded Dunbar – excited about the competition she will face each match in the Big Ten, which she calls the best conference in the country – has large shoes to fill. Despite struggles in the last few seasons, former IU volleyball coach Katie Weismiller was IU’s all-time leader in victories at that position. \nHowever, Dunbar and her staff have a chance to do something Weismiller had not since 2002: take the team back to the NCAA tournament, a daunting task because of the strength of the Big Ten. \nIn order for Dunbar and the Hoosiers to advance to the NCAA tournament, they must finish at least .500 in the Big Ten – their conference record the last time the team made it that far into the postseason. \nDunbar has already begun reaching for that goal by instilling a new attitude with the team. Some veteran players say the level of intensity Dunbar expects every day is higher than they have faced in previous years.\n“She demands intensity and brings maximum effort into every practice,” senior right side Lauren Ditteon said.\nJunior outside hitter Erica Short said the team had to adapt to Dunbar’s coaching style. \n“The intensity she brings to practice is something we weren’t used to,” Short said. \nBecause of the program’s recent struggles, Dunbar said she needs to work on changing the attitudes and competitiveness of her team. She said she will set a tone of competition from the very beginning of practice. \nDunbar also said that, to have a successful season, the team needs to display good leadership and be “feisty.” In preseason conference play, under Dunbar’s guidance, the Hoosiers tallied nine wins in 12 matches and won one of the four tournaments in which they played. \nDunbar said, however, that she is not as worried about wins and losses as she is about improving. \n“Right now,” Dunbar said, “it’s about getting better every day and not so much about wins and losses.”