Weeg to leave volleyball team

After two seasons as a member of the IU volleyball team and Academic All-Big Ten selection this year, Jessica Weeg has decided to call it a career.

The sophomore outside hitter made the difficult decision after a season in which she appeared in just seven of 34 matches.

“It was kind of time to be realistic,” she said. “At some point you just kind of have to decide what’s important to you and what makes you happy, and it’s playing that makes me happy. I wasn’t going to get that, so I figured I’d focus energy elsewhere.”

Weeg recorded a total of six kills at a .417 hitting percentage in her appearances.

Her most productive outing came Sept. 19 in a straight-set victory over North Carolina A&T in the T.I.S. College Bookstore IU Invitational, recording four kills on seven attempts as well as a block assist.

A student in the IU School of Journalism, the Cincinnati native said a few playing opportunities were no longer worth missing out on studies and career planning.

“I would love to do internships and all those kinds of things in the summer,” she said. “Those things aren’t really an option while you’re playing.”

Weeg said she had informed IU coach Sherry Dunbar and her teammates of her decision and that despite initial surprise, they supported it.

“The team took it really well,” she said. “They all know how hard I work, and they can see that I’m not really getting what I want.”

Dunbar and other players were not available for comment.

Weeg said while she had to make a tough choice to leave the team, she understands new avenues will open.

“It’s always hard to close a chapter in your life,” she said. “Through all of high school, I was always ‘the volleyball girl,’ and now, sure, I still love it ... but that’s not who I am anymore. So I’ll have to find different ways to define myself. So it’ll be a search.”