Men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton said his goal for thepreseason was to finalize his starting lineup for the regularseason, and he must do it this weekend without projected starterLuis Castera in the team's final preseason matches.
Castera, a sophomore outside attacker, was suspended from theteam for academic reasons, according to Walton.
"We suspended (Castera) to encourage and help give him time toachieve his academic goals by the end of the semester," Waltonsaid. "As a result, we're going to shuffle our lineup on Saturdayand Sunday."
Because Castera is out, sophomore Evan Berg will move from hislibero position to the open outside attacker spot. Freshman MarkRumschik will start at libero.
The Cardinals travel to Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo., forthree matches this weekend. They will play NAIA Lindenwood Saturdayand Sunday. They will also play Midwestern IntercollegiateVolleyball Association rival Quincy on Sunday.
Although the team will miss Castera, Walton said he planned ontrying out different lineup combinations this weekend anyway. Also,Saturday's match will be more similar to a scrimmage than an actualgame, Walton said, which will allow him to experiment with hisstarters.
"It's going to be a day where we will play a number of ourplayers and try a few different things, try to give everybody onour roster a significant amount of playing time," Walton said.
As far as Castera's suspension, Walton said it will both helpand hurt the team as the preseason finishes.
"The good thing is that we're going to get a look at a differentgroup of starters because Luis can't be with us," Walton said. "Thebad news is, Luis had worked into that starting job, and we wereplaying very well with him on the court."
Sunday's match against Quincy will be the second time theschools have faced off this preseason. Walton said playing aconference opponent in the preseason has its pros and cons.
"It's a chance for us to see if we are the better team, at leastin the preseason," Walton said. "Anytime you're playing a team fromyour league, it's kind of like bragging rights. Certainly, losingto Quincy is not something we would consider a step in the rightdirection."
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