Because the men's volleyball team made the NCAA tournament last year, it will have a rare opportunity this weekend.
Early in every spring volleyball season, the University of Hawaii holds the Outrigger Resorts and Hotels Invitational. The east coast and midwest representatives in the previous NCAA tournament, as well as Hawaii and a fourth-team play each other in a round-robin format.
Ball State won the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship last year, earning them a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals travel to Honolulu to meet national champion Hawaii and No. 4 Penn State.
This season's Invitational provides the Cardinals, ranked No. 7 nationally, an even rarer playing opportunity. Typically the fourth team in the invite is UCLA. But, because Hawaii will play UCLA at least two other times this season, it invited another team.
That team is the Shanghai Oriental men's volleyball team from China. The Cardinals open up the tournament against Shanghai, who beat Hawaii twice in the preseason, tonight in an exhibition game.
Because the game does not count toward their record, head coach Joel Walton said the Cardinals will use a variety of players against their international opponents.
"We're going to use a mix of players and keep them fresh," Walton said. "We're going to hold back some surprises and surprise Hawaii the next night."
After Shanghai, Ball State will play Hawaii in a regular season match Friday and then Penn State on Saturday. This is a big weekend for the Cardinals, Walton said, since both teams are in the Top 5 in the nation.
"This is our opportunity to gain respect around the country," Walton said. "If we beat Hawaii we'll send a message to the West Coast. If we beat Penn State we'll send a message to the East Coast."
Although the team is focused on winning the games, Walton said the trip won't be all business for the Cardinals. They have some sight-seeing planned as well.
Walton said the team is going to see the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor and go to the beach at least once during its stay in Hawaii.
The trip is a homecoming for sophomore middle attacker Andrew Braley. He is from Kailua, Hawaii, which is just over 10 miles from Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Braley's family plans to have the team over to its house for dinner one night during the trip.
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