Slaw Says: Give women's volleyball a chance; Ball State is good

About this time last year, I would have spent my Saturdays stuffed into some crowded press box high above some football field somewhere in the Midwest watching Ball State battle opponents and themselves.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

This year, my Saturdays are different. Now I can usually be found sitting along the spacious press row in Worthen Arena witnessing the Ball State women's volleyball team hammer some poor, unfortunate visiting squad.

Now that is exciting.

Before this year, I never thought twice about volleyball. I don't think I went to go see a single match in high school, and I know I never played it outside of a handful of family reunions and open houses. Volleyball was possibly the weakest of all blips on my sports radar.

Then this semester I got assigned to cover the Ball State team for the Daily News. At first, I was less than enthusiastic about my duties. I didn't know anything about volleyball, and I was fine with that.

I interviewed coach Randy Litchfield a number of times and tracked the team's stats as it played in a long series of road tournaments and matches. It wasn't until the Oct. 5 match against IPFW that I had an opportunity to see "my girls" in action.

That is all it took. After that one match, I was addicted to volleyball.

There is something attractive about Ball State volleyball, and I'm not only talking about the players.

The game is fast paced, the players compete with obvious emotion, the fans are into it every step of the way and, here's the clincher, Ball State women's volleyball team is good. Very good.

Ball State is currently on a nine-match win streak and is leading the Mid-American Conference West Division. That's right, a Ball State team that is actually at the top of the MAC.

A few of the matches so far this year have been some of the best sporting events I have been to in my entire life.

Example one: Ball State vs. Kent State.

The Cardinals entered the match on a roll and ready to play its first MAC contest in Worthen. The Golden Flashes had other ideas and won the first two games of the match. With the Cardinals on the brink of defeat, I figured it was over and I would have a quick night. How wrong I was. Ball State stormed back to win the final three games and therefore the match.

Example two: Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan

This was just last Saturday and there is already buzz about it being one of the most exciting matches ever played in Worthen. It was back and forth the entire way. The Eagles completely controlled the first game, but the Cards took games two and three. EMU would not go away, though, and forced a deciding Game 5. The Eagles beat Ball State to eight and it didn't look good for the Cardinals, but, as all rabid BSU volleyball fans know, never count the Cardinals out in Game 5. When the dust settled, Ball State was victorious.

A lot of people missed out on these great matches. How do I know? Well, the Ball State attendance record for a women's volleyball match is 1,711 people. How many people go to school here? I think it is a quite a few more that 17 hundred.

I am not saying that volleyball is better than football or anything like that. All I am saying is, give volleyball a chance. Attend a match with an open mind.

I think you may be surprised.