Saturday brings senior night for team

Bittersweet.

That’s how IU senior libero Caitlin Cox described how Saturday’s Senior Night celebrations against Iowa will feel.

“It’s been so fun to play here for the last four years,” Cox said. “It’s not something that we have exactly waited for, but it’s something to add to our memories here.”

The weekend begins Friday as No. 2 Nebraska volleyball travels to Bloomington for the first time in school history. In the teams’ first meeting of season, the Cornhuskers swept the Hoosiers in Lincoln, Neb.

On Saturday, the Senior Night festivities kick off to honor seniors Mary Chaudoin, Caitlin Cox, Lindsay Enterline and Kristen Seaton as the Hoosiers look to avenge their mid-season, five-set loss to the Hawkeyes.

Cox said the celebration, which is during the second-to-last home game because the final home match against Purdue is the day before Thanksgiving, will be an emotional way to honor the seniors, but should not be more emotional than the final match against Purdue.

“It’s to let everyone know about our accomplishments on and off of the court and celebrate what we’ve done here for this program,” Cox said. “I don’t think it will be as sad because technically it is not our last home game, which I think will help us all get through this.”

With the games on the schedule dwindling, Enterline, who originally began her college career on the women’s basketball team, said part of the enjoyment of playing with her fellow seniors is how the four each bring something different and have all taken different paths to senior night.

“Everyone brings something different to the game and a different personality, and yet we still mesh so well,” Enterline said. “That’s what I love. We have all had different paths that have brought us here to the same place.”

While some of the seniors admitted the season has not gone the way they had hoped it would — currently riding a 16-game losing streak — Seaton said the journey the team has traveled has taught her life lessons.

“Coach Dunbar told us at the beginning of the season that this season was going to be a journey,” Seaton said. “Some of these memories from this process — sticking together as a team — has been a really good lesson and a really good experience that I will take on for the rest of my life.”