Kelsey Brandl still remembers the day she met Steve Shondell.
In early April of 2010, more than a month after former coach Dave Boos resigned from his position, Brandl was informed about a sudden team meeting.
She was the first player to arrive in the conference room. As soon as every player had filed inside, Shondell walked into the room.
As a storied high school coach in Muncie for over 30 years, some of the players knew him.
"I was excited because I went to high school at Roncalli, so I had always heard of him," senior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra said.
Some players didn't.
"A lot of us said, ‘... a high school coach, how is this going to work?'" said Brandl, who was taking in the third coach of her collegiate career.
Shondell stood at the front of the room and introduced himself. Brandl remembers him saying, "I'm really excited to be your coach. I hope you'll accept me and go with me on this."
Any second-guessing and nervousness inside the conference room from the players that day is similar to the acceptance of any new coach.
But in hindsight, it was a perfect marriage between coach and players. The coach and players just didn't know it yet.
SIMPLE, BUT EFFECTIVE
The introductory meeting wasn't where the relationship between Shondell and the players faced its first hurdle.
That came in the first practice. And the difference in Shondell's coaching style compared to what players experienced in college before was immediately noticeable.
"The first day, we were doing stuff that his players at Burris do in gym class," senior setter Brittany McGinnis said. "We were going seriously back to basics, like we had never touched a volleyball."
The simplicity was a transition for Ball State, while at the same time, coaching a collegiate team was a transition for long-time high school coach Shondell.
His nervousness showed. That was evident to the players on the second day of practice.
"He was so relieved the next day when we came back," Schembra said.
But once the players adjusted, it quickly paid off. Ball State transformed its own identity in only a year, going from a 15-16 record in 2009 to 24-5 in 2010, Shondell's first year as coach.
He even led the team to 23 straight wins at home to begin his Ball State coaching career. It's a mark that only recently ended with a loss to Eastern Michigan on Thursday.
The 2010 season culminated with the Mid-American Conference Championship, with Ball State finishing with the conference's best record.
The time it took for the players to become accustomed to Shondell's personality and style has faded. Now, his methods are cherished.
"He's very quiet, but his message is very strong whenever he says something," McGinnis said. "Everyone respects Steve because of his past and his knowledge of the game. We would never have won the MAC if Steve didn't come and brought us back to basics."
THE RIGHT MOTIVATION
In order to overhaul the program and turn it into a winner, Shondell had to overhaul his players' habits, mentally and physically.
"He said, ‘I don't know what you've learned in the past, but you need to trust me that this is a good idea.'" Brandl said. "Everyone was kind of skeptical about that. It's bump, set, spike for the last 20 years of our lives, and now it's changing."
Change in the team's mentality primarily came from Shondell's persistent encouragement. Players sometimes receive texts from him saying how they're one of the best players in the nation or how glad he is to have them on the team.
Even if they're bench players, Shondell will be sure to let them know how much confidence he has in them.
"He thinks the best out of everyone, and I think that's probably the best thing as a coach that he does," Brandl said. "Obviously I'm not leading the MAC, and obviously our people on the sidelines are not the first players in the MAC. But he gives them that confidence. He keeps saying it, and he never stops. I think that's the best part."
It's a style inconsistent with the stereotype of how most coaches should act. A hardened and tough exterior to keep a professional distance from players is usually the expectation for a head coach, even at the collegiate level.
But Shondell has strayed away from that method at Ball State, just as he has done in his entire career as a coach. In his two years as the team's coach, it's nearly impossible to argue with the results, on the court and off it. Any of his players can attest to that.
"It's just a happier atmosphere," Schembra said. "People enjoy it more, and I think people want to see what it's about. I think he's brought that with his passion for the game."
"He cares for you not only as a player, but as a person," Brandl said. "He's not so much as a coach as he really shows his personal side as well. His dedication [toward] us as people, even more as players, really means a lot."
IS NOW THE TIME?
Shondell's unconventional coaching style has brought a wealth of success to Ball State in his first two years as coach.
But that prosperity has come in the regular season.
With the start of the 2011 MAC Tournament tomorrow, the Cardinals have the opportunity to take what they've learned over the past two years into the postseason.
Unlike last season when it opened the tournament as the favorites to win it, the pressure is off Ball State. Owning the fourth seed has turned them into an afterthought in comparison to Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Ohio.
Maybe that's for the best.
"We're feeling good about ourselves, but we're not feeling too good," sophomore libero Catie Fredrich said. "I feel it's a little easier to beat teams when you're the underdogs. You don't have anything to lose, you just play volleyball."
At the end of Ball State's practice yesterday — the final one held at Worthen Arena before the team leaves for the tournament in Geneva, Ohio — the team huddled together to close out the practice.
With everyone's arms raised high into the air, a lone player shouted out a phrase that will resonate with the team this weekend.
"It's tournament time."
With Steve Shondell at the helm, it may be Ball State's time too.
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