When Ball State travels to Northern Illinois for its third conference match of the season, it will be the first time the two have played since Northern Illinois eliminated Ball State in the 2011 Mid-American Conference tournament.
The two teams, though, are in similar positions.
Each is trying to rebuild its team after losing significant pieces from the year before. Each has played a rather tough non-conference schedule and pulled out with a winning record. But Friday will be a chance to find out which has made the most progress and could continue to compete despite losing so many starters from 2011.
"We're both rebuilding our teams this year but yet we're trying to maintain what we've been able to accomplish the past two years," coach Steve Shondell said. "So really they're on a similar track that we are."
Northern Illinois opened its MAC season with a big win over Central Michigan last weekend. Central Michigan returned most of its lineup after receiving an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament last season.
Senior outside hitter Kara Bates said Ball State doesn't really know what to expect right now, especially after Northern Illinos lost Lauren Wicinski, a two-time MAC player of the year. Wicinski was released from her scholarship and subsequently committed to Michigan State during the offseason.
"She was their entire team," Bates said. "So I'm really looking forward to watching them and really proving them wrong."
Despite losing five starters from last year's squad, Bates said it has never felt like that for the team.
"I really don't think that anyone looks at it like that on the team because it doesn't feel like that," Bates said. "But it doesn't feel like we lost an entire lineup."
Shondell said the team isn't really looking for any type of revenge because of how well Ball State has fared against Northern Illinois the last two years.
The focus, after starting out 4-6, is to take every MAC match seriously and not rely on the MAC tournament to decide Ball State's fate.
"You can't think you're going to go in and coast and pick up and at-large bids," Shondell said. "We really did pick up some tough losses that will come back to haunt us if they start looking for at-large teams."
Junior outside hitter Kylee Baker may not play again this week. If she sits, true freshman outside hitter/setter will be the one battling the away crowd at the net. Shondell said even with her performance against Akron, he is unsure how well she will do with a different setting.
"We are just going to have to fight through like we did last weekend," he said. "You know, Jenna gave us a good weekend at home. Can she go on the road and play at the same level? That remains to be seen."
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