TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State volleyball is set to open its 2017 campaign at the Indiana Invitational this weekend in Bloomington. The Sycamores will play three matches beginning with DePaul Friday, Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. before taking on Ball State and the host Hoosiers Saturday, Aug. 26. ISU and Ball State will kick off Saturday's activities at 10 a.m. before the Sycamores close out the Invite with Indiana at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network Plus.
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.
Indiana State 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 have been 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.
