By Mike Myers, Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON — While the drive from Loogootee to Bloomington covers a mere 50 miles, the distance from the Blue Chip Conference to the Big Ten dwarfs the short car ride from Martin County to Monroe County.
But it’s a trip that Taylor Wittmer has made with time to spare.
Wittmer, the former all-state outside hitter from Loogootee, has made a significant contribution as a freshman for the improving volleyball program at Indiana University.
Through last weekend, Wittmer was fourth on the IU squad in kills with 159 (1.89 per game) and has also recorded 91 blocks while starting the majority of matches at middle blocker for the Hoosiers. Wittmer and with another freshman middle blocker, Ashley Benson (115 blocks), are both on track to break the IU single season record for blocks by a freshman. Wittmer was also the tourney most valuable player as the Hoosiers claimed the championship of the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic in September.
Wittmer and Benson, the daughter of former Indiana basketball all-american center Kent Benson, have been a big part of a volleyball revival at Indiana under first year coach Sherry Dunbar. With four regular season matches remaining, Indiana has already tallied more wins (15) than the Hoosiers did a year ago under former head coach Katie Weismiller, when IU was 10-22 and won just one match in Big Ten play.
Starting, let alone at new position middle blocker, has exceeded Wittmer’s expectations at IU.
“I didn’t even think I was going to be playing middle, I thought I was going to be playing outside. It’s been a huge . . . not really a surprise, but I just didn’t expect to play, and I didn’t expect to start,” Wittmer said after a home win over Iowa last Saturday. “I came up and stayed all summer, and it just shows that opportunities will come to you if you work hard.”
Another adjustment Wittmer has made is getting used to the faster pace of volleyball at the collegiate level, from playing for Loogootee in the Blue Chip Conference — which includes some of the smallest high schools in Indiana — to playing in the Big Ten, a collection of some of the largest public universities in the nation.
“It’s really fast. Especially in the Big Ten, everything is fast. It’s not like one or two teams are good and faster than normal. It’s like everyone is fast,” said Wittmer, who led Loogootee to three consecutive sectional titles and back-to-back Class A state runner-up finishes in high school. “That’s really a huge thing that you have to get used to. You just kind of have to make mistakes, learn from your mistakes, and just teach yourself how to deal with that fast pace.”
Dunbar, an Indiana native who played collegiateally at Ball State, has been impressed with Wittmer this season.
“Taylor has one of the best work ethics on our team. Unfortunately, she’s in a position where she played outside all club season, we have her playing middle now, and so she’s still learning that position a little bit more,” said Dunbar. “But she’s such a great athlete, she’s going to have an unbelievable career here. She gets better and better every day.”
Dunbar admitted it is a “bit unusual” for a player from a small school like Loogootee to get noticed by a Big Ten program, and it likely would not have happened had Wittmer not played in the off-season for the Hoosierland Volleyball club team based out of Bloomington.
“A lot of people probably wouldn’t have seen her unless she’d played club,” said Dunbar. “The club is just giving them those avenues. With the number of evaluation days we have, if we don’t see you in club, we’re probably not going to see you in high school.”
While Wittmer signed with IU before Dunbar was named the Hoosiers new coach last year, she feels the new IU mentor — who guided the College of Charleston to three straight NCAA tourney appearances from 2004-2006 before coming to Bloomington — has been the right fit for Indiana.
“It’s been a adjustment, but it’s been a adjustment for the good because she’s just so intense and she makes us work so hard,” said Wittmer. “I’ve just really enjoyed playing for her, she’s brought more energy and intensity to the program, which is what we’ve needed.”
College has been full of adjustments, and not just on the court for Wittmer, who notes “Time management is the toughest thing for me. You’re at weights, and practice is like all day, and then you have to find time to get your studies in. It’s just really hard.”
And weeknight bus trips to Paoli, Linton, Vincennes and points in between have been replaced by weekend road trips all across the Midwest and the Big Ten Conference, such as the weekend of Nov. 2-3, when the Hoosiers played Ohio State in Columbus on a Friday, then traveled on to University Park, Pa., to face Penn State on Saturday before returning to Bloomington.
In addition, while her old high school concluded its season in the IHSAA state finals that same weekend, the Hoosiers still had a month left in their regular season after the road match at Penn State.
“It’s difficult, like just for your body, it’s so different because you’re not used to having a season that lasts that long. And the travel, we leave on Thursday and we don’t get home until Sunday or Saturday night really late,” said Wittmer.
“It’s your whole weekend whenever you’re gone. And you have to be at the gym four hours before the match, and your warmups are an hour. It takes so much more time than high school.”
