No. 10 Ball State (7-1, 2-0 MIVA) hits the road this weekend to do battle with two Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opponents, IPFW (3-1, 2-0) and Mercyhurst (2-3, 0-1). Although these are both conference matches, there is more at stake for the team than just having a good-looking record.
"(The matches) are really important from the standpoint of where we want to be at the end of the season," said head coach Joel Walton, whose team defeated No. 8 Lewis this past Tuesday. "It's always tough (to play) on the road, but we need to go and play two good matches to work toward getting a high ranking in the MIVA by the end of the year."
IPFW and Mercyhurst met a week ago with IPFW sweeping Mercyhurst. From that game, the Cards expect to see two very different types of play from their opponents.
"IPFW has a freshman setter (Dennis Santiago) who is very good," Walton said. "They also have two good middles who are tall, physical middles who are capable of blocking well and getting lots of kills."
Of Mercyhurst Walton said, "They have a younger team that is not as physical as IPFW, yet they still play good volleyball. (They have a) crowd that is typically emotional and can be distracting if our guys allow that to happen."
Walton and the team have been prepping for the two matches this week, working on specific issues that merely need improvement to make the team more unstoppable.
"We continue to work with Keith (Schunzel) in getting our middles more involved," Walton said. "He has been doing a good job of distributing to all our attackers and with everyone we play (against) we want to have that advantage and use it until someone shows they can stop it."
They also worked on their serving, having more total errors (109) than their opponents (93). The Cardinals committed 18 errors in Tuesday's match against Lewis, which resulted in a win. Last season's MIVA Coach of the Year has said the team is trying to get a serve that is "tough and consistent." That is one aspect he hopes to see improved this weekend.
Overall, Walton seems pleased with the team's play and sees evidence of the team getting the respect they want.
"I'm starting to see indications across the country that we have one of the best teams in the nation," Walton said.
Walton has said, however, that the true test of how Ball State ranks with other top 10 powerhouses is simply to play those teams. In what Walton calls "respect matches," Ball State will face George Mason, Penn State and the defending NCAA champion No. 4 BYU all in the same week.
Fortunately, Walton foresees no need for Ball State to cower before those nationally recognized programs. After taking a trip to watch the NCAA volleyball tournament, Walton has good reason to be confident of his team's chances.
"Watching (the NCAA Tournament), we felt our team stacked up well with the teams in the NCAA Final Four," he said. "We matched them in experience, athleticism and skill. The areas we needed to work on was confidence and consistency. As the season progresses, we are starting to see both work well for our team."
Ball State visits IPFW Friday and Mercyhurst Saturday. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
