TERRE HAUTE, IN - It is the Halloween season and Indiana State University volleyball coach Julie Krofcheck wants to know what kind of character her team will be as they hit the road this weekend for a pair of Missouri Valley Conference matches.
Will they take the court as the hero or the sidekick? Will they be quick to attack their opponent's weaknesses or just lay back and wait? With everything to gain and nothing to lose, will they be fearless in each game or resigned to their fate?
The Sycamores stand 3-18 overall and 0-13 in the Valley. Indiana State will visit Bradley University on Friday to take on a Braves team that is just 2-23 overall and 1-11 in the conference. The Sycamores go further west on Saturday to take on the University of Northern Iowa. The Panthers are in the hunt to make the MVC post-season tournament with a 15-9 record overall and 9-3 mark in the Valley. Both matches start at 8 p.m. (EST).
“The spirit of this team is really good,” Krofcheck said. “It was a little surprising to see how focused and upbeat they were in practice considering our record this season. The losing streak has been hard on all of us but they remain upbeat and are looking forward to this weekend.”
Indiana State has already played both of these schools once this season on the home court, losing 1-3 to Bradley and 0-3 to Northern Iowa.
Against Bradley, the Sycamores took game one 30-24 but then stumbled in the second game and lost 16-30. Indiana State could not get the momentum back in the final two games, although they stayed close enough to have a chance for victory, losing 26-30 in game three and 25-30 in game four.
“The match at Bradley could be very, very ugly or it could be the way I envision it,” Krofcheck said. “It could be just a long five-game match between the bottom two teams of the conference or it could be a three-game match where we dominate the play.”
Northern Iowa swept the Sycamores 18-30, 24-30, 20-30 in the first meeting between the two schools. Indiana State did have their chances, especially in the second game where there were 12 ties and six lead changes.
“We have played well at times and then,” Krofcheck said. “I think this past weekend's matches were the worst we have played this year. We were given plenty of chances and we did not take advantage of them.”
The Sycamores were blanked 0-3 by Creighton last Friday and then lost to Drake by the same 0-3 score on Saturday. In both matches, Indiana State struggled to get points in the first game and played catch-up the rest of the night.
“It was really disappointing to lose those matches the way we did,” Krofcheck said. “We must be ready to play from the opening whistle to the final point. The feeling I get from practice this week is that they will be ready to play. The confidence that we would gain from a win will go a long way toward finishing this season on a positive note.”
Sophomore Jodilynn Stoker is leading the ISU attack with 161 kills for the season (102 in conference play) and averaging 2.27 kills per game (2.43 per game in conference action). Junior Alisha Polite has 445 set assists for the season (243 in the Valley) and averages 6.54 per game (6.23 in the MVC). Junior Kristy Cox remains the team leader in digs with 330 for the season (225 in the conference), averaging 4.71 per game (5.49 in the Valley).
