The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis volleyball team finished their regular season with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) victory at Maryville on Nov. 5.

Sophomore outside hitter Kristina Kerrigan led the team’s offense with 15 kills and junior middle hitter Courtney Anglemeyer had 12 kills.

UIndy will enter the GLVC conference tournament with a record of 23-7 (11-3 GLVC.)

The Greyhounds swept St. Joseph’s 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-13) on Nov. 2. Junior outside hitter Kristina Hefferan had 16 kills while Kerrigan and senior outside hitter Lyndsay Callahan each had 10 digs for the match.

“I think we’re really going to try to peak at the right time,” said volleyball head coach Jody Butera, now in her 14th season at UIndy. “I’m really glad with where we’re at at this juncture.”

The team’s season was punctuated by a GLVC/GLIAC crossover event on Oct. 15 and 16. The event featured teams from rival conferences.

UIndy emerged with a perfect 3-0 record, defeating Tiffin, Northwood and Northern Michigan along the way.

The 3-0 defeat by the Northern Michigan Wildcats was the Greyhounds first loss of the season.

“I think the outcome of that was that was the first time we played the way we knew we could play all season,” Morrison said. “I felt like in the crossover everything clicked, our chemistry, all the togetherness was there and let us know that we could pick it up whenever we need to. We could be that team.”

In the games following the crossover event, UIndy won six matches and lost only to Bellarmine, with the score of 2-3.
The Greyhounds battled Bellarmine to the end with no UIndy loss by more than a five point deficit. Kerrigan set a career high record with 28 kills for the match.

“She [Kerrigan] is a monster,” Butera said. “She’s just one of those athletes that you love to coach because she takes it so personally. She always steps up in the big games.”

Last season, UIndy posted 194 aces and 270 errors with 1.4 aces per set.
This season, they’ve limited the errors to 158 in 10 games fewer while hitting 154 aces and maintaining the average of 1.4 per set.

“Our program overall has gotten better in blocking and serving,” Butera said. “Volleyball is basically a game that’s evolved and now you win at the endline and not at the net. So if you have tough serving, you have tough defense, and you pass serve well, you’re going to do dynamite. ”

The Greyhounds have faced 16 non-conference opponents this season.

“I really want to elevate the level of play of my players,” Butera said. “If they don’t experience those top teams, they won’t know what to work for. And so we implement that, and they improve as players and people in their 4 years at UIndy.”

While the schedule is full, Morrison enjoys the mindset afforded by a competitive atmosphere.

“Leaving the mark for the freshmen and sophomores, I think they’ll have a good idea of what’s expected next year,” Morrison said.

The team enters the GLVC tournament as the 2nd seed, seeking their third conference championship.

“We’re going into it [conference tournament] the same way,” senior setter Cheneta Morrison said. “Our crossover really helped with that since we played some of the teams in our region. I feel like that was a turning point for us that if we do our job then there’s nobody who can stay with us.”

The tournament will be hosted by Lewis, who is currently ranked 11th in the GLVC, on Nov. 12 through Nov. 14.

“We haven’t really changed our strategy the entire season,” Kerrigan said. “We just need to make sure that our mind set is on winning and that we’re playing as a team. That’s how we’re getting the bigger wins – when we’re all doing collectively well as a team.”

UIndy will face Bellarmine in a first-round rematch of the GLVC tournament in Romeoville, IL on Nov. 12.