The Ball State women's volleyball team goes back on the road tonight to play a non-conference match against IPFW's Mastodons after opening the Mid-American Conference season with a pair of victories.
While IPFW is a much smaller school than Ball State, with nowhere near the same amount of volleyball history, head coach Randy Litchfield knows his Cardinals will have to be on their toes in Fort Wayne.
"These kind of matches in the middle of the conference schedule are always a little risky," he said.
The Mastodons (9-6) gave the Cardinals a run for their money last year in a 3-2 Ball State victory in Worthen Arena. This year's IPFW team is a veteran squad that features eight previous letterwinners and six returning starters.
Litchfield, a Fort Wayne native, admits that some of his reasoning behind scheduling this match was personal.
"This is a selfish match on my part," he said. "Being from up there, I'm always excited to go up to Fort Wayne and play volleyball."
Sophomore Sarah Obras is also eagerly anticipating the match.
"If anything, I think it should help us out," she said. "We just had a really long break, and having a match in the middle of the week will help us keep focused."
Obras was honored Monday as the MAC West Player of the Week for the second time this season and fifth time in her career. The 5-foot-10-inch outside attacker currently leads the conference in kills per game (5.78) and points per game (6.06). Her 4.22 digs per game ranks third in the MAC.
Litchfield realizes that Obras is the team's main offensive threat and applauds her for how she has played, but he is also aware of the dangers of putting too much pressure on her, he said.
"We have to be careful in not overloading her," he said. "There are over two months of volleyball left to play."
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