Volleyball team juggles NCAA tourney, school

More than 600 student-athletes participate in IU’s 24 varsity sports.

A student-athlete might need good time management to balance a weekly schedule filled with classes, practices, workouts, games or matches, and other team-bonding activities.

As the IU volleyball team looks to face Miami (Fla.) on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament, student-athletes on the team also know that final exams are less than two weeks away as well.

IU coach Sherry Dunbar said the time spent between being a student and an athlete is about equal. And the athletics department has seen academic success during the past year.  

Kelly Noonan, assistant athletic Director for academic and student engagement and volleyball academic advisor, said 57 percent of student-athletes earned an academic year GPA of 3.0 or higher last year.

The volleyball team practices three hours a day from Mondays to Wednesdays and then travels, usually on Thursday, for weekend matches.

In the four months of this season, the team played more than 30 matches in 10 different states.

In addition to matches and practices, team activities such as film study and weight training also occupy space in the players’ schedules.

Noonan said the volleyball and academic staff works with freshmen to acclimate them with the hours of work for school and volleyball.

Also, freshmen meet weekly with Noonan for academic advice and help with their
transition from high school to college.

“We meet with Kelly every week to look over our grades, and she gets on you,” freshman outside hitter Jade Henderson said. “She has made me a more organized person.”

Players agreed time management between the sport and the classroom is important for a student-athlete.

“You have so many opportunities to go do other things and have a regular student life, but you just have to prioritize,” senior middle blocker Taylor Wittmer said. “You should know that if you have a test, you have to be there studying.”

Academics can play a role in recruiting players to the school.

“When recruiting players, we say to them that their two priorities as a student-athlete are academics and volleyball,” Dunbar said.

Both factors have become important in a student-athlete’s life.

Recent IU basketball commit Cody Zeller said one of the reasons why IU interested him was because of the Kelly School of Business.

Another point of interest to prospective IU student-athletes is the new academic center in the North End Zone of Memorial Stadium.

Some of the key features to the new facility include the 79 computers, seven individual tutoring rooms, three classrooms, two group study/seminar rooms, a collaborative study area with café, a 55-seat auditorium and a quiet study/reading room.

Dunbar talked about the importance of the academic center being a key part to the student’s academic growth.

“I think the academic center is a difference-maker if they use it wisely,” Dunbar said.
Noonan said all the advisors meet with recruiting prospects for their sport to see how they are doing in high school with academics.

IU Athletics’ 2010-11 motto, “24 sports, one team,” means a lot of things, among them the importance of academics in student-athletes’ lives.

Dunbar explained that athletes help each other by discussing school-related business if they are in classes together or see each other at the new academic facility for help.

“'Twenty-four sports, one team’ is a broad spectrum of not just supporting us playing but also in academics as well,” Dunbar said.

Wittmer said all athletes go through similar schedules having to deal with their sports and academics as well.

“No on else really knows what you’re going through except for them,” Wittmer said.
Henderson explained that she looks for athletes in her classes because of the common bond of being a student-athlete.

Teammates can build relationships with each other on and off the court to look for guidance with academic-related questions.

“Even with making our schedules for next semester, that’s when I talked to the upperclassmen,” freshman defensive specialist Melanie Hicks said.  

Dunbar coaches the team not just in volleyball, but also in life.

“We tell the players that your education is important because it’s something you can rely on after college,” Dunbar said.