That’s how IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan described seniors Courtney Harnish, Kyndall Merritt, Amelia Anderson and Chante George, respectively.
“They’re more than four players,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “They’re developing leaders, not just volleyball players. They all have different personalities.”
Harnish, a 5-foot-3 defensive specialist from Muncie, Indiana is the most stable athlete on the team, Dunbar-Kruzan said.
Before arriving at IU, Harnish played for the Asics Munciana Volleyball Club, one of the most highly-regarded volleyball clubs in the nation, and she leads the Hoosiers in digs, with 178, in 2015.
“She grew up in that kind of environment,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “She’s very academically-minded and is really the voice of reason on the team.”
Merritt, a 4-foot-11 defensive specialist, grew up in Georgetown, Indiana, where she holds the all-time record for digs at Floyd Central High School, and sits third on the team in digs behind Harnish and junior Taylor Lebo.
Merritt’s production has steadily grown throughout her career at IU, as she played in just 23 matches in 2013 and then 31 in 2014, when she finished second on the team in service aces, with 21.
“She’s our fighter,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “She fights and fights. She’s our little sparkplug, and she’s gotten better every year. It’s really cool to see a person grow into what they’re going to become, and that’s what she’s done in her time here.”
Anderson, an outside hitter out of Crystal Lake, Illinois, led the team in kills in 2014, with 312, and currently leads the team with 219.
“She is so selfless,” Dunbar-Kruzan said about Anderson. “She has grown up a ton since arriving here, and it’s so cool to see that light bulb turn on.”
The fourth senior, Chante George, a redshirt senior from San Antonio, Texas, returned from back surgery this season and has recorded 80 kills and 28 blocks.
“I feel like during our freshman years, those descriptions would have been so much different,” Anderson said. “We’ve all grown a lot since coming to IU. Coach Dunbar has really molded us into the people that we are and the people that we need to be off the court and on the court.”
Together, the seniors have led IU through the girls’ final non-conference tournament season to a record of 10-4, after traveling to Tennessee, Texas and Colorado.
Entering Big Ten play for the first time this season, the Hoosiers went on the road to Michigan, where they took on Michigan State and Michigan, losing both matches.
“We lost our identity and just forgot who we were,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “We aren’t panicking because there are still 18 matches to go in Big Ten play. Panicking over two losses woud be crazy. I just told the team that we got punched this weekend, so now it’s our time to get up and punch back.”
