Complete Release (.pdf)
NCAA Midwest Regional
Northern Mich. vs.
Indianapolis
Nov. 21, 5:00 p.m. ET
Interactive Bracket: NCAA.com
Live Stats: Gametracker
Hounds at the NCAAs: For the second consecutive season and third time overall, the University of Indianapolis finds itself in the field of 64 at the 2008 NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship. Fourth-seeded UIndy heads to Allendale, Mich. for the Midwest Regional hoping to build on last year’s performance. The Greyhounds won the program’s first NCAA match last season in a first-round meeting with Hillsdale before losing a five-set thriller to Lewis in the regional semifinals.
UIndy’s first NCAA qualifier, the 2003 squad, posted a 29-11 record and a GLVC championship on the way to a sixth seed in the Great Lakes Regional. The Hounds would fall in the first round to third-seeded Grand Valley State, but the eventual Final Four participates needed the maximum five games to dispose of the Greyhounds.
UIndy vs. Northern Michigan: Friday’s match-up between UIndy and the Wildcats of Northern Michigan will mark a rare third meeting for the inter-conference foes in 2008. The two hooked up at the Flyer Festival in Romeoville, Ill. Sep. 6 with the Hounds earning the win in five sets. Friday’s opponents also faced off at the first annual Asics GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament Oct. 17 with NMU winning in straight sets to hand UIndy its only sweep loss of the season.
UIndy’s early-season win versus the Wildcats is the Greyhounds’ only victory in the all-time series, as Northern Michigan owns a 6-1 record in head-to-head matches.
UIndy vs. The Field: The Greyhounds’ schedule has not been kind this year as 40% of Undy’s matches have come against schools in the 2008 NCAA Championship field. The Hounds have compiled a 8-7 record against teams in the bracket, including a win against Atlantic Region top seed California (Pa.), its only loss in 38 matches this year.
Hounds at the GLVCs: After finishing the conference slate with a 14-4 record, UIndy came into the 2008 GLVC Tournament as the East Division’s #3 seed, setting up a meeting with the West’s #2, Rockhurst University. The Greyhounds snapped the Hawks’ nine-match win streak with a sweep win to hand the perennial power its first opening-round loss since joining the GLVC in 2005.
The Hounds’ win put them in the GLVC Tournament semifinals for the seventh straight year, good for the longest active streak in the league. Lying in wait were the top-seeded and 25th-ranked Lewis Flyers. In a rematch of last year’s GLVC final, Lewis took a four-set victory in front of a raucous crowd and ultimately made it back-to-back-to-back GLVC championships after its sweep of potential bracket-buster Southern Indiana.
League Accolades: Senior Beth Robbins was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year by league coaches. Robbins is not only UIndy’s first ever GLVC Player of the Year but she is just the second setter since 1997 to claim the award, one usually reserved for hitters.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native was among four Hounds to earn all-conference honors, as junior Kyleigh Turner (Muncie, Ind.) and sophomore Lyndsay Callahan (Chicago, Ill.) were also named to the First Team while sophomore Cheneta Morrison (Fort Wayne, Ind.) nabbed second-team honors.
Record Breakers: Multiple major milestones fell this season, including the school’s career assists record and the career digs record. Beth Robbins etched her name in the Greyhound volleyball annals Oct. 24 - a sweep versus Bellarmine - by becoming the school’s all-time leader in assists. With her very first assist that night, Robbins surpassed the old mark of 4,392 held by former Greyhound and current UIndy assistant coach Deanna Williams (2001-04).
Junior libero Kyleigh Turner became the new UIndy career digs leader Sep. 27 at the PSAC Crossover in a win against Shippensburg. Her career total currently sits at 1,864, and with her senior season yet to come, she may put the record out of reach.
A solid passer in her own right, sophomore outside hitter Lyndsay Callahan surpassed 400 digs for the second straight season and recently broke her own record for most digs in a season by a non-libero.