Passing the rock: Horner serves as the hub for ISU volleyball attack
Sophomore setter Suzanne Horner sets the ball for one of her hitters in a 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-16 win against West Virginia. Horner had 56 assists and five digs throughout the Oct. 4 match.
October 9, 2014
All sophomore Suzanne Horner wants to do is make her teammates look good.
As the setter on the ISU volleyball team, the responsibility to get the ball where it needs to be, and when it needs to be there, falls almost completely to Horner.
The number of different passes in her arsenal rivals that of a point guard in basketball, but where passing on one play can be an individual endeavor in basketball, it is almost always a team effort on the volleyball court.
“When we are passing well, I can set just about anybody,” Horner said. “I can involve the middles and the outsides, the right sides [and the] back row. Whenever we are not passing as well…we become predictable when we are just going to one player on the outside.”
Over the previous five matches, Horner has averaged roughly four more assists per set in matches the team has won versus matches the team has lost.
She said her success sharing the ball comes from a better team effort all around, which does not necessarily show up on the stat sheet outside of her own assist numbers.
Horner said every aspect of the team’s offensive attack is interconnected by its passing, which is what makes it one of the two paramount areas of importance to success week in and week out.
“For any team in the country, serve and pass are the two biggest things,” Horner said. “Passing is very important to get the offense running the way we want it to.”
