Indiana State to senior Ana Maira Charun
before final home game Saturday night
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? The Indiana State volleyball team is in charge of its own destiny as the 2010 season winds down. Mathematically, the Sycamores still have an outside shot of earning the sixth seed in the MVC tournament. Realistically, the chance is slim at best.
Indiana State still has a lot to play for, including an outside chance at the post-season. The Sycamores have just one conference win on the season but do have five games remaining on their schedule. Victories in each of those contests would put ISU in a better position to gain their first post-season appearance and their most conference victories since 2004.
Two of the schools ahead of Indiana State will be in Terre Haute this weekend with the Evansville Purple Aces coming to town on Friday and the Southern Illinois Salukis on Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m. (ET) in the ISU Arena. Evansville and Southern Illinois are 5-7 in the Valley with the Purple Aces 16-8 overall and Salukis 14-8. SIU visits Illinois State (15-11, 5-7 MVC) on Friday. The Redbirds are the other school ahead of Indiana State in the battle for the sixth playoff spot.
It will be Senior Night for Indiana State on Saturday with the Sycamore's lone senior, Ana Maira Charun, to be honored in pre-game ceremonies. Charun competed at Indian Hills Community College for two years before transferring to Indiana State. The 5'-10” outside hitter from Lima, Peru, enters her final weekend of home volleyball action with a 2.05 kills per set average this season and 2.20 kills per set for her career at Indiana State.
THE SCOUTING REPORT:
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE ? The Sycamores are 9-17 on the season and 1-12 in the conference heading into Friday's game against the Evansville Purple Aces. Indiana State posted an 8-5 record in non-conference play but dropped their first eight games in the Valley before defeating Bradley on Oct. 16. The nine victories are the most for Indiana State in a season since the 2004 campaign when ISU won 12 games.
The Indiana State attack is being led by sophomore Morgan Dall who is averaging 4.12 kills per set (kps) overall and 4.04 kps in Valley action. Dall ranks 28th nationally (out of 250 players ranked) and leads the Valley in kills per set for the season and in MVC games. Junior Stacey Qualizza is averaging 2.22 kps for all games and 2.57 kps in Valley contests while junior Ana Maira Charun is at 2.05 kps overall and 1.84 kps in MVC games.
Junior Shelbi Fouty has been the primary setter for the Sycamores since freshman Loni Mackinson's season was ended with a knee injury against Chicago State. The two shared setter duties throughout the non-conference schedule. Fouty is averaging 6.25 assists per set (aps) for the season but has really come on in Valley action and is averaging 10.65 aps in MVC games. Mackinson was averaging 7.58 aps before her injury.
Junior Kiya James has been leading the defense with 4.08 digs per set (dps) for the season and 3.50 dps in Valley games. She has received support from Dall (2.74 dps) and Fouty (2.40 dps) throughout the season with freshman Monique Morris stepping up during Valley games at 2.46 dips.
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE ? The Purple Aces are 16-8 overall and 5-7 in the conference. Evansville has dropped five straight games including losses at home last weekend to Bradley 1-3 (21-25, 26-17, 22-25, 19-25) on Friday and #13 Northern Iowa 0-3 (13-25, 17-25, 27-25) on Saturday.
Junior outside hitter Brooke Maher is leading the Evansville offense with 3.66 kps overall and 3.81 kps in Valley action. Senior middle hitter Emily Wandersee is averaging 3.36 kps overall and 2.66 kps in the Valley while sophomore outside hitter Hannah Wilson is averaging 2.46 kps overall and 2.84 in Valley play.
Junior setter Ellen Sawin is averaging 10.20 assists per set overall and 9.81 aps in Valley play with freshman defensive specialist Katie Klages averaging 4.51 digs per set overall and 5.28 dps in MVC action.
Maher and junior middle hitter Kaisi Nixon had 15 kills each as the Purple Aces swept Indiana State 3-0 in their first meeting this season on Oct. 9 in Evansville. Wilson added 10 kills while Sawin had 34 assists and Klages 15 digs.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ? The Salukis are 14-8 overall and 5-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference heading into Friday night's game at Illinois State. Southern Illinois has won two of their last three games including a split at home this past weekend, losing to #13 Northern Iowa 0-3 (12-25, 20-25, 12-25) on Friday and coming back to defeat Bradley 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-12) on Saturday.
Senior outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger is leading the Saluki offense with 3.69 kps overall and 3.98 kps in Valley action. Senior right side hitter Alicia Johnson is averaging 2.43 kps overall and 2.02 in MVC play while freshman middle blocker Jessica Whitehead is averaging 2.14 kps overall in 2.78 in Valley contests.
Sophomore setter Rachael Brown is averaging 10.43 assists per set overall and 10.71 in MVC games while junior defensive specialist Lauren Blumhorst is averaging 4.26 digs per set overall and 4.42 in Valley games.
Senior middle blockers Jasmine Conner had 19 kills to pace the Salukis in the first meeting with Indiana State this season on Oct. 8, a game that saw Indiana State jump out to a 2-0 lead but then drop the next three sets and lose the game 3-2. Whitehead had 14 kills, Berwanger and sophomore m idle blocker Alysia Mayes knocked down 13 each, and Johnson recorded 11 kills. Brown had 63 assists in the game with Johnson recording 28 digs.
SERIES NOTES:
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES ? Indiana State has not defeated the Purple Aces since 2003 when the Sycamores swept the season series, winning 3-1 at Evansville and then posting a 3-0 victory on the home court later in the season. ISU has lost 13 straight to Evansville but lead the series 31-27. Indiana State is 18-9 overall at home against the Purple Aces.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS ? The Sycamores have not defeated the Salukis since 2004 when Indiana State won both regular season matchups, taking a 3-1 on the home court and then posting a 3-1 win in Carbondale later in the season. ISU has lost 11 straight to Southern Illinois and trail the series 13-33. The Sycamores are 6-16 at home against SIU.
LOOKING BACK AT LAST WEEK: The Sycamores dominated the statistics at Creighton Friday night but were plagued by errors that cost ISU a chance at victory as Indiana State fell 0-3 (21-25, 16-25, 18-25). Indiana State was also dominate in the statistics on Saturday at Drake and nearly pulled off the win but dropped a five-setter 2-3 (25-22, 14-25, 25-20, 17-25, 14-16) to the host Bulldogs.
On Friday, sophomore Morgan Dall recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 12 digs. Senior Ana Maira Charun had seven kills with sophomore Shea Doran adding six. Junior Shelbi Fouty had 30 assists with freshman Monique Morris recording 14 digs and junior Kiya James 13. The Sycamores had 34 kills in the game to 32 for the Bluejays and ISU had 50 digs in the game to 41 for the Bluejays. Indiana State had won nine of the 10 games they led in kills this season and eight of the 10 games in which they led in digs.
On Saturday, Dall recorded a career high 25 kills and tied her career high with 67 attempts in the loss. The 25 kills is the fifth most in a single game by a Sycamore and is shared by four other players including Kylee Osborne, who did it twice in 2003, JoAnn Koinitys in 1990, MK Bahnaman in 1989, and Cheryl Berg in 1999. The 67 attempts is the seventh best single game performance in school history. Junior Stacy Qualizza had 18 kills on 37 attempts and scored 19.5 points in the contest, all career highs. Doran had a career high 10 kills and scored a career high 11.0 points while Fouty had a career high 62 assists along with a career high 21 digs, her fifth double-double of the season.
FOLLOWING THE SYCAMORES:
Live stats for all Indiana State home games can be found at the official Sycamore web site (www.gosycamores.com).
HEAD COACH TRACI DAHL:
Traci Dahl is in her third year as the Sycamore coach. Dahl is 24-64 as the ISU coach including this year's 9-17 record. The third year coach is looking for her first win against Evansivlle (0-5) and Southern Illinois (0-5) this weekend.
DALL NATIONALLY RANKED
Indiana State sophomore Morgan Dall remains one of the top hitters in the nation as the Aviston, Ill., native is ranked 28th nationally in kills per set (4.12). She is just one of two Missouri Valley Conference athletes in the top 50 along with Wichita State's Camri Zweisler who is 35th at 4.05 kps. Dall also ranks 47th in the nation in points per set (4.45). A total of 250 are ranked nationally. Dall leads the Missouri Valley Conference in kills per set for all games (4.12) and in Valley contests (4.04). She is second in total kills for the season with 391 and is second in Valley contests with 186.
DALL KNOCKING IT DOWN
Sophomore Morgan Dall moved into the top 10 of single season kills for Indiana State this past weekend, passing Julie Meshberger who had 389 kills during the 1994 season. She needs just nine kills this weekend to record her 400th kill for the season, a feat accomplished by just nine other players in school history. Dall moved up in the top 10 of single season total attempts with 1,181 this season which is the sixth best single season performance in school history. Dall moved past Lindsey Rust who had 1,180 attempts during the 1997 season.
JAMES DIGGING WAY UP
Indiana State junior Kiya James has been moving up the ladder in Indiana State career digs this season. The Indianapolis, Ind., native has 1,096 career digs which places her fifth on the all-time ISU list. She passed Stacy Stanton (1991-1994), who had 1,091 career digs, this past weekend. James has 388 digs this season and ranks 153rd in the nation (eighth in the Valley) in digs per set (4.08). She is just 22 digs short of making it into the top 10 of single season digs. Lindsay Rust is currently 10th with 410 digs in the 1997 season.
FOUTY ASSISTING ISU EFFORT
Indiana State junior Shelbi Fouty ranks third in assists for Missouri Valley Conference games at 10.65 assists per set. The 5'-11” setter established a career high with 62 assists at Drake on Oct. 30. She also had 54 assists at Missouri State, 57 at Southern Illinois, and recorded 53 against Drake this season.
QUALIZZA COMING ON STRONG
Indiana State junior Stacy Qualizza has found the holes in opponent's defenses and ranks just outside the top 10 in single season hitting percentage with a .268 average. With performances like she had at Drake last Saturday (.405), she has a chance to break into the top 10. Megan Mirs (2000) and Karis Keeran (1997) both hit .275 during the season are are tied for ninth.
OPPONENTS IN THE RANKINGS
Northern Iowa remained 13th in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) nationally. UNI is 22-2 on the season and totaled 736 points.
