Historically, volleyball team has had strong foundation

Compared to the 125 years of football or 108 years of basketball, the University’s volleyball program is still in its early childhood.

However, IU volleyball has slowly but surely displayed signs of emergence among its fellow university sports teams as it enters its 34th season.

IU has taken small steps to get its volleyball program out into the national picture, something current head coach Sherry Dunbar acknowledged.

“Especially when you’re trying to build a national contender, you’ve got to have your name out there,” Dunbar said.

IU laid the groundwork for that from the start.

The Hoosiers began play under head coach Ann Lawver in 1975 and placed third in the Big Ten each of their first three seasons.

The conference held a tournament to decide its champion until 1982.

Doug West succeeded Lawver as head coach in 1983 and landed a vital piece to the Hoosiers’ building blocks the following season when outside hitter Karen Dunham, IU’s first hugely successful individual player, arrived on campus.

The Muncie native recorded 46 service aces – now third all-time for IU freshmen – on her way to garnering Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 1984.  
Dunham totaled 154 career aces, now second in school history, and 3,925 career assists, a mark which still ranks third all-time.  

With three All-Big Ten designations, an All-America honorable mention in 1985 and winning records each of her four seasons, Dunham set an early standard for Hoosier volleyball players.

In addition to Dunham, several IU players made marks in the 1980s.  

Julie Goedde, a first team All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 1989, is still the Hoosiers’ all-time leader in solo blocks and total blocks.

Sheri Stout followed in Dunham’s footsteps as the Big Ten’s top freshman in 1989.

Diane Hoereth, who played for IU from 1989-1990, is the career leader in hitting efficiency at a .290 clip.

Despite individual success, IU did not reach the NCAA tournament until the 1990s under head coach Katie Weismiller.  

Hired in 1993, Weismiller led the Hoosiers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1995, just her third season, and took them to their other three in 1998, 1999 and 2002, as well.

The Weismiller era saw an even greater influx of individual talent as Julie Flatley, Ryann Connors, Amanda Welter and Melissa Brewer were all named first team All-Big Ten. Flatley and Connors were both named National Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association.

Under Dunbar, who took over in 2007, the trends have continued.  

Erica Short became the school’s all-time kills leader in 2008 with 1,889 and also received an All-America honorable mention.
Juli Pierce set the digs record in the same year.

Current junior middle blocker Ashley Benson is rapidly climbing the blocks and hitting efficiency boards.

On top of all of that, the Hoosiers had a No. 22 recruiting class for 2009.

The marks left in the past helped set the pace for IU volleyball. Now, it is up to the players to accelerate that pace in the 2009 season.