The men's volleyball team heads into two weekend matches surrounded by question marks. The Cardinals are unsure what roles certain players will have on the team. Head coach Joel Walton said he isn't even sure what his final starting lineup will be.
In the Cardinals' first game of the season, a win against Newman on Monday, Walton started two true freshmen, Patrick Durbin and Nick Meyer. BSU won the first set but lost the second after hitting only .190.
Walton then pulled Durbin from his outside attacker spot, switched some players on the court around and put in junior Andrew Braley. That squad hit .476 and .382 respectively in winning games three and four.
Walton said he will start Friday's game against George Mason with the lineup that finished Monday's match.
"We lost the second game (against Newman) with a lot of attack errors," Walton said. "The change worked. We hit a lot better in games three and four."
Walton said he also favors the changed lineup because it is a more experienced one. By replacing freshman Durbin with Braley, a junior, Walton adds two years of experience to his starting seven.
The Cardinals opened last season with a victory at home against George Mason. Walton said beating the Patriots this season will prove more difficult because he has a young team, while George Mason returns many of last year's players.
"Their setter is now in his second year leading the team, so I would expect their offense to run smoother than it did against us last year," Walton said. "Last year when we played them, we figured them out pretty quick, and they made a lot of errors."
Ball State will travel to George Mason for a rematch March 18 and Walton said he wants to start the series off with a victory.
The Cardinals play Rutgers at home Saturday. Rutgers is another team that returns many of its players from last season. Walton said he expects Rutgers and George Mason to be very good this year.
While Walton is confident in his new starting lineup, he said it is not finalized. One of his goals this weekend is to find which players work best in what positions.
"Our goals this weekend are going to be to continually improve, and to work closer to finding our starting lineup and roles for everybody on our roster," Walton said. "I'm also looking for us to block a little better."
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
