Benson, Thomas play together once again after high school years

For junior middle blocker Ashley Benson and graduate student right-side hitter Whitney Thomas, the choice of what college they would attend was never really a question.

Both members of the IU volleyball team are natives of Bloomington and graduates of Bloomington High School North, where they played volleyball together for the first time.

“I think I always knew I wanted to come (to IU),” Thomas said. “I didn’t really look anywhere else.”

Benson had a similar thought process.

“Really early, I think, I really had it planted in my brain that ‘I’m going to IU, I’m going to IU,” Benson said.

Both extended their athletic careers into college, and short of obligatory backup plans, IU was always the place they figured they would attend.

For Benson, there was family influence as her father, Kent Benson, was an All-American basketball player for the Hoosiers.

She said that basketball was where her initial interests were as well.

“When I was younger, I wanted to play basketball for IU,” Benson said. “But when I went to high school, I learned the game of volleyball and kind of gave up basketball.”

Even though last year’s All-Big Ten selection developed a passion for a different sport, Benson said her father wasn’t going to tolerate switching loyalties.

“I think the main point when I knew I was going to IU was when I went to school one day wearing a Kentucky shirt that a friend got me,” Benson said. “And right when I got home, my dad saw it and made me change into an IU shirt.”

Benson shined in her high school career at Bloomington North and garnered consideration as the No. 17 recruit in the nation for the class of 2007.

While IU was always her top choice, Benson conceded it wasn’t the only one.

“There were a lot of different schools I wanted to go to,” she said. “My first visit was to IU, and I knew the campus and knew the town, and I fell in love with the girls who were playing here, so it was really easy for me to decide to go here. But I was also looking at Kentucky, and my dad was making me look at Purdue. I didn’t really want to.”

Benson, who last year set all-time IU records with 167 single-season total blocks and 151 block assists, said it felt great to be successful at the collegiate level in her hometown.

“I think it’s great,” Benson said. “It’s always great to have someone from that town playing sports (at the town’s school). I feel I know a lot more people. All those people come to the games and they fall in love with the other girls who are playing.”

IU volleyball coach Sherry Dunbar said it was important to have an elite local talent in the program.

“Especially when you’re trying to build a national contender, you’ve got to have your name out there,” Dunbar said. “It’s difficult to get all we can in this league because there are so many great players out there ... It speaks volumes of her and it speaks volumes of our program.”

Thomas, Benson’s high school teammate at Bloomington North, excelled in both volleyball and basketball as a prep athlete and chose to go the opposite route of Benson.

After a record-setting four years as a member of the IU women’s basketball team, Thomas decided to return to volleyball while attending graduate school, using a fifth year of eligibility to play a different sport.

Thomas said the adjustment back to volleyball after a four-year hiatus is coming along nicely as the Hoosiers’ season progresses.

“I’m starting to get used to it over time,” Thomas said. “It’s totally different from basketball. There’s hardly any similarities at all, so it’s a big adjustment, but ... I’ve had great help from my coaches and teammates, so I’m starting to get it.”

Dunbar said she was thrilled at the opportunity to coach Thomas.

“After hearing so many positive things about what she’s done in basketball, but not just as a player but as a person, as a leader ... Hopefully we’re going to help her as much as she helps us.”

Thomas said she is glad to play alongside Benson again.

“I really enjoy it,” Thomas said. “I think that’s the best part, because whenever I was at North, I never really got to spend much time with her. I was out with injury and she was two years younger than me.”

Benson said she feels the same way.

“It feels great,” she said of Thomas joining the team. “The first time I played with her was my sophomore year. I always looked up to her, and I was always being told, ‘You can be better than Whitney Thomas,’ and I always said, ‘No way.’ Now that she’s here, she’s told me, ‘Now I’ve seen how much you have grown, and I want to be like you now.’ It’s really great. We have a lot of fun and a lot of great memories from high school.”