When the men's volleyball team faces its alumni Saturday,they'll play more than a fun match for head coach Joel Walton.
The match against former players is a staple of the team'sseason, but they normally play in the spring during the regularseason.
Walton said he scheduled the game in the fall this year to givehis young team more experience before the regular season.
"We've got this very young team that I wanted to have play as(many) competitive matches in the preseason as I can getscheduled," Walton said. "I need to put these guys out there to seehow they compete and to see what our strengths and weaknessesare."
Walton also said he wanted to teach his new players about thetradition of Ball State volleyball, and the alumni weekend is anexcellent chance to do so.
"It's a neat day because it's one of those events that gives thecurrent team a feel of our program's history," Walton said. "Thereare usually a lot of good stories to be told. Some of the alumniwill issue challenges to the team to encourage them."
With seven new faces on this year's team, Walton said he isstill learning what his team can do and perfecting starting andreserve lineups. He said this weekend will help him do so.
"We're still giving guys an opportunity to show us what they cando," Walton said. "We're waiting to figure out what the nucleuscore of our team is going to be and who's going to be in supportingroles and what those roles will be. We want to try and establishsome way that every player on our roster can help us through thecourse of the season."
Walton said players always look forward to the alumni match. Hesaid the match should be especially competitive this year becausemany of the alumni returning graduated recently.
Four of the alumni were on last year's team that lost in theconference semifinals. Four others graduated in 2002. In all, 12 ofthe 15 alumni graduated in 1997 or later.
With all the recent graduates, many of the players on the floorknow each other. One of the alumni, Josh Hall, still lives with twoof the current players: setter Keith Schunzel and middle attackerAmitai Sasson.
"It's going to be fun," Walton said. "There's going to be a lotmore conversation across the nets than you might see at a regularmatch. It's a more-relaxed environment. Generally there are somefunny things that will happen. Although if you were to ask ouralumni team and our varsity team as they're out there competing, itmay not be all that relaxed."
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
