The Online Reflector

By Dan Dick | Opinion Editor

The UIndy women’s volleyball team maintains their position as one of the top in the country by keeping their players humble, happy and hungry.

“It’s getting down to the championship time when, at the end of your season, you want to play your best ball,” said head coach Jody Butera.

However, the team faces some unlikely challenges, despite their current record of 28-1 (9-1 GLVC).

“We’re having a little issue with people having enough confidence in themselves to withstand making errors and still be able to play and push through it,”Butera said.

Perhaps a lack of confidence can only be attributed to the fact that this year’s team is comprised mostly of sophomores and freshmen. Butera said that even professional athletes get preoccupied with making mistakes and that leads to them questioning their abilities.

“I’ve got three or four freshmen playing significant time and their able to do it and get it done,” Butera said. “We have one senior on the team.  We got a couple juniors.  They understand we have a big target on our back.”

She said that the team makes up for their youth with enthusiasm.

“We had a great team last year too; I just think we had too many nice girls.  This year we have girls who speak their mind and are honest.  Those are the type of kids I’m recruiting now; kids that hate to lose and speak their mind.”

The few upperclassmen on the team have been a significant factor in motivating their younger peers. One player in particular, junior Cheneta Morrison, has earned the coach’s respect for her talent and attitude. Morrison was recruited by Butera three years ago as a setter, but learned to play outside hitter in order to play along side All-American setter Beth Robbins.  As an outside hitter, Morrison was named Second Team All Great Lakes Valley Conference. With Robbins’ graduation, Morrison is now in the dynamic position setter, the volleyball equivalent to quarterback or point guard.

“Our captains have been pushing the team and making sure that volleyball is a priority in the top three; family, school, volleyball,” Butera said.

For a team of mostly younger players facing off against opponents with more age and experience, the Lady ‘Hounds’ record is very impressive.  High expectations and personal drive have produced irrefutable results, as the team is ranked No. 11 in the nation.

The Lady ‘Hounds extended their 14-game win-streak in a three set win over the Northern Kentucky Norse on Oct. 24 (25-18, 25-18, 25-18). Freshman Kristina Kerrigan led her teammates with 13 kills and 30 attack attempts. Senior Kyleigh Turner had 19 digs, sophomore Courtney Anglemyer had seven kills and Morrison recorded 32 assists.

On Oct. 23 UIndy swept conference foe Bellarmine University in three sets (25-14, 25-20, 25-18). Freshman Kourtney Crawford had seven kills, while Morrison contributed 35 assists.

The Greyhounds squeaked by the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Oct. 17 in a five set match (24-26, 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 16-14).  The Cardinals barely won the first set, with the ‘Hounds taking the next two.  The Cardinals recovered in the fourth and took an early lead in the fifth, but failed to over power the ‘Hounds.

On Oct. 16 the team played in a double-header against both Northern Michigan and Hillsdale.  The first match saw the ‘Hounds dominate the first two sets before NMU rallied in the third.  The Wildcats effort failed to overcome the ‘Hounds in the fourth, with UIndy winning 25-12.
The second match was against Hillsdale who offered solid opposition.  With the Chargers leading 15-14 in the fourth set the Greyhounds scored four consecutive points to stay in the game.  The team returned in the fifth to score nine of the first 11 points of the set.  This victory marked the third time this season that UIndy has defeated a nationally ranked team.

UIndy hosted Taylor University Oct. 13, in which Callahan’s 12 kills put her over the 1000 kills in her career.  Callahan is only the seventh Greyhound to reach the 1000 kill mark.

On Oct. 9 the Hounds faced off against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.  The Eagles gained an early lead, but the Greyhounds managed to achieve their seventh successive victory with a 25-14, 25-14, 25-20 win.  The following day the team played and beat Kentucky Wesleyan, in which all 15 players saw the floor.

“A conference championship, that’s our goal every year.  We haven’t been able to do it since 2003.  We’ve been in the semi finals the last six years in a row, the only team to do that in the GLVC,” Butera said.  “If we do well in the conference championship, we’re going to go to the NCAA tournament.”