With the Ball State women's volleyball player reviews now complete, it's time to shift focus to the upcoming men's volleyball season. The men's team kicks off the year with the annual Alumni match this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Of course it's just an exhibition match, but it'll mark the return of competitive volleyball to Worthen Arena for the first time in over a month. In preparation for the start of the season, I'll be doing another four-part series this week on the team's players, focusing each day on a new position and analyzing the outlook for each player this season.
Today's final analysis will center on the team's eight outside attackers.
Outside attackers
Projected starting outside attacker – junior Larry Wrather
Analysis: Let me be clear, these projections should be taken with caution. Unless some of these players have cleared up their consistency issues, I'm certain the starting outside attackers will change several times this season between at least the top five players at the position. That being said, if there's one player who will always be in the starting lineup, it's going to be Wrather. An All-MIVA second team player in 2011, Wrather finished the season strong with double-digit kills in eight of the final 10 matches. Even though he's 5'11, Wrather can jump through the roof and provides a ton of energy on the court. He's a dynamic player, and I think he still has room for improvement entering his junior year.
Projected starting outside attacker – redshirt junior Jamion Hartley
Analysis: It's tough to completely understand Hartley's game. He's undeniably the most physically talented player on the roster, blessed with an incredibly athletic frame at 6'7. He can sometimes look like the best player on the court, and at other times the worst. His inconsistency on defense especially was frustrating for coach Joel Walton last season, causing Hartley to have an undefined role in the rotation for most of the year. If he's able to finally take the step the coaching staff wants him to take, he'll be in the lineup every night. That remains to be seen.
Projected starting outside attacker – junior Greg Herceg
Analysis: Herceg is a prime example of a player that needs to improve his attack percentage this season. In reality, all of the outside attackers need to improve in that department, but Herceg is the one that sticks out the most with his success rate of .183 from last season. He was the only player on the team to finish below .200. And if the team is reach Walton's goal of topping a .300 attack percentage overall, it's going to have to start with Herceg. I believe that's definitely possible for him with another year of experience under his belt.
Projected back-up outside attacker – senior Jeff Aucoin
Analysis: Aucoin is one player I expect to move into a starting role at some point this season. As a fifth-senior transfer from New Hampshire, Aucoin is stacked with some of most experience on a roster that has suddenly become quite young. I'm expecting him to provide a sense of leadership to this team that might lack it with the loss of its recent senior class. I think he's proven that mentality to me with some of the things he's said over Twitter, such as "I've been waiting 5 years for this. I have one year to do all I can. It will be a great year! #NewTeamNewDream #RoadtoGalen." Aucoin only has one year to play on this team, and his contributions both on and off the court could be immense.
Projected back-up outside attacker – sophomore Urim Demirovski
Analysis: I was prepared to see more of Demirovski this season until I heard Aucoin had joined the team. Now it looks like he could be headed for a similar role to the one he had last season, which was riding the bench the majority of the time. If he's improved enough from his freshman year, he could become a solid rotational player behind the top four players at the position. Walton's rotation at outside attacker went five players deep last season, so Demirovski should hope the same holds true this year. Wrather has personally guided Demirovski in his career at Ball State, so I'm excited to see if the sophomore can come close to Wrather's level of play.
Projected back-up outside attacker – redshirt freshman Matt Sutherland
Analysis: I'm not exactly sure what to make of Sutherland. He redshirted last year and Walton didn't say much about him. I'm placing him ahead of the two freshmen for playing time, but behind Demirovski since I've already seen the latter in action.
Projected back-up outside attacker – freshman Shane Witmer
Analysis: The team is so stacked at the position this season that I expect Witmer to redshirt. He sounds like a skilled offensive player, but his talents are better saved for a season when he has a good chance of getting on the court.
Projected back-up outside attacker – freshman David Ryan Vander Meer
Analysis: Vander Meer will also most likely redshirt this season. He's an interesting prospect at outside attacker considering he's only 5'9, beating out Wrather as the shortest player at the position. He'll be someone to watch in the future.
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