Seniors follow distinct paths to same team

For Lindsay Enterline and Kristen Seaton, the roads that led them to senior night on the women’s volleyball team were different but share a common thread: overcoming the adversity of injuries and switching teams.

Enterline began her career at IU on the women’s basketball team following in the footsteps of her sister and former Hoosier point guard, Leah Enterline.

The daughter of Robert Enterline, a NCAA Division I basketball official, the 6-foot athlete played sporadically her freshman year but was faced with a decision when a preseason knee injury ended her season and eventually her basketball career.
Enter IU Coach Sherry Dunbar and the IU women’s volleyball team.

Enterline said the confidence Dunbar showed in dealing with her injuries added to her desire to return to volleyball, the sport in which Enterline set her high school’s records in kills, attack percentage, digs and blocks while earning four letters in volleyball, basketball and softball.

“Having a coach that believed in me and gave me the opportunity and said, ‘You know what’s right for you. Push it till you can’t push it anymore, and when you’re done you’re done,’ was huge,” Enterline said.

The opportunity paid off last year as Enterline played a role in the Hoosiers’ run to the Sweet 16, the best finish in school history.

While it was the program’s first postseason berth since 2002, Enterline played in the postseason for the second time in her collegiate career — the first when the IU women’s basketball team went to the NIT in her freshman year.

“To get to play in the tournament for both sports, it’s been wonderful,” Enterline said. “I could not have asked for more. I love both sports equally. It’s been fun to be able to experience both at such a high level.”

As for Seaton, the road to senior night actually began when she was a young girl growing up in Terre Haute and rooting for the
Hoosiers
“I used to come down here as a little girl, and I’d watch the basketball games,” Seaton said. “Just being a part of this community is really special to me.”

While Seaton is the first member of her family to attend IU, the 6-foot-5 lefty started her career at Pepperdine and did not transfer until before what would have been her senior season, a season eliminated by knee injuries.

Seaton transferred to IU and graduated last spring with one year of eligibility left. The southpaw said the transition between schools was not the difficult part of the transfer; rather, the uncertainty surrounding her playing career was the tough part to cope with.

“I had already graduated and was done, so I started in the program and didn’t have to catch up,” Seaton said. “I was still getting back into volleyball because I took almost a whole year off and I thought I was done, but it feels good to be back in rhythm and to be helpful to my team.”

Seaton has been more than helpful in the last three weeks. Starting with an 11-kill performance off the bench against Purdue on Oct. 19, Seaton has been one of the Hoosiers’ top attackers, averaging 7.8 kills (including two different 10-kill nights) in the five matches after the Purdue match.

Enterline said although Seaton has had a different and brief IU experience, everyone in the program is proud she has been able to finish her career the right way.

“She didn’t get to experience last year with us, but she got to come in this year and have another senior year and really end her career the way she wanted it to go,” Enterline said.

As these two different paths have merged in the final steps before senior night and the closing weeks of the season, Seaton and Enterline said they would not trade their time at IU for anything.

“Putting on the Indiana jersey is special and nothing can quite replace that,” Enterline said, “but all the memories that are made during the week and spending time with your friends every day — I’m going to miss that a lot.”