TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State volleyball continues a 10-match road swing to start the 2017 campaign at the Hawkeye Classic this weekend in Iowa City, Iowa. The Sycamores will take on Coastal Carolina, Omaha in a pair of matches as well as host Iowa.
First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday against Coastal Carolina with a match against Omaha set to begin at 6 p.m. The Sycamores will then take on the Mavericks once more Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing out the Classis with the host Hawkeyes at 8 p.m.
Indiana State is coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Indiana Invitational where the team opened the season with a sweep of DePaul before falling to Ball State and the host Hoosiers.
Junior
Laura Gross earned All-Tournament accolades after finishing the weekend with 31 kills and 38 digs. Against DePaul, Gross went for her first double-double of the season on an 18 kill and 19 dig performance. Gross also finished the weekend with a team-best five service aces.
Cassie Kawa and
Sarah Peterson have been efficient through three matches, leading the squad in hitting percentage. Kawa is hitting at a .383 clip with 2.67 kills per set while Peterson is hitting .324 with 11 kills.
Indiana State returns three starters and its libero from its 2016 team that finished 10-20 overall and 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference. First year head coach
Lindsay Allman takes over the Sycamore volleyball program and will look to take ISU to the postseason for the first time since 2014.
The Sycamores returns one MVC postseason award winner in sophomore middle blocker
Damadj Johnson. The St. Louis native was named to the MVC All-Freshman squad and led the Sycamores with 107 total blocks last season, finishing 11th all-time in single-season total blocks. Johnson also finished the season with the best hitting percentage on the squad (.309).
Alongside Johnson will be seniors
Stephanie Bindernagel and
Rachel Griffin who were mainstays in the Sycamore lineup a year ago. Bindernagel currently sits eighth all-time in school history with 1,130 digs. Griffin is coming off a 983-assist season last year, currently with 1,400 assists for her career.
The Sycamores were picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll as announced by the league office. Missouri State has been tabbed as the league favorite by the coaches', receiving 99 points and nine first-place votes.
ISU earned its 19th straight AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2016 season. The streak is the longest among all schools and ties Drury University (Division II) for the longest streak in the history of the award.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
