Volleyball looks to repeat success
In the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Preseason Poll, the University of Indianapolis volleyball team emerged as ninth in the nation.
The Greyhounds ended their 2012 season with a loss to the University of Tampa at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Volleyball Final Four in Pensacola, Fla. The Final Four run was the furthest the Greyhounds had ever gone in the NCAA tournament.
Junior setter Meghan Binkerd said she anticipates an even stronger finish for the team this season.
“Our expectations are a national championship. We were excited to go to the Final Four last year, but a lot of us upperclassmen think that repeating that wouldn’t be good enough,” Binkerd said. “We want a national championship.”
The 2013 season opener against Wayne State College will be the beginning of Head Volleyball Coach Jason Reed’s career as a collegiate head coach. Reed was hired in the spring after former head coach Jody Rogers accepted a head coaching position at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Bruggeman said that she is confident the change in coaches will be a smooth transition and is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to prove that.
“We’re very excited to get started. We like his enthusiasm and dedication,” Bruggeman said.
This past summer, Bruggeman was recognized for her enthusiasm and dedication, receiving the 2012-13 Kelso M. Reid Mental Attitude Award. Bruggeman said that she always has tried to give 100 percent and that to be recognized for her efforts was an honor.
“I was really excited. I didn’t realize that other people were aware of the way I’ve been working the past couple of years,” she said.
The Greyhounds will come out of the gate this season with the chance to prove themselves against multiple Top 25 preseason ranked teams.
“We want to challenge ourselves right away. We want to make sure we are ready for our conference schedule, but we also want to see how we stack up nationally. We obviously have high expectations in our region and our conference,” Reed said. “But we want to keep going beyond that if we’re fortunate enough to do so.”
In their first weekend, the Greyhounds will face No. 20 Wayne State College, No. 21 Wingate University and No. 1 University of Concordia St. Paul.
“Even if we don’t win, it’s important to play well. Our name has been established as a good team, but having a new coach I think that people are going to underestimate us a little bit,” Binkerd said.
Binkerd said that having a new coach will present the team with several benefits. These benefits include a slightly different style of play that came from Reed’s previous job as a top assistant at NCAA Division I North Dakota State University.
“He’s really thrown out some new ideas that will help us, some things that a lot of other schools won’t be ready to see,” Binkerd said.
Reed said that he is impressed with the leadership, effort and desire the team possesses and is eagerly awaiting the end of the summer and start of his inaugural season with the Greyhounds.
“The direction that they’re going is very good,” Reed said. “It’s almost like I just have to steer the boat. They’ve got their foot on the pedal, and they’re going.”
The Greyhounds open their season at 10 a.m. on Sept. 6 at the Concordia University Tournament in St. Paul, Minn., against Wayne State, with a second game later in the afternoon against Wingate University.
