Coming off an upset victory over No. 9 Penn State, the men'svolleyball team is gearing up for two showdowns at No. 4 Hawaii onWednesday and Thursday. But first, the No. 10 Cardinals must focuson two home matches against Springfield College this weekend.
Ball State (4-0) faces Division III Springfield (Mass.) onSaturday and Sunday. The Pride are three-time defending DivisionIII national champions and have won more titles than any otherDivision III school.
Cardinal head coach Joel Walton said Springfield will put up atough fight that the Cardinals must be prepared for. But it's hardfor him to stop thinking about the next week's matches at Hawaii,he added, because the team leaves Tuesday morning.
"We know Springfield is a good team," Walton said, "but Icouldn't help but go over details about next week's trip with theteam."
Cardinals' senior setter Keith Schunzel said staying focused onthe matches at hand will be key this weekend.
"It's tough to not look past (our matches with Springfield),"Schunzel said. "We've been talking about Hawaii since we found outwe were playing them."
On Tuesday, Schunzel was named the American Volleyball CoachesAssociation National Player of the Week for his performance inBSU's victory over Penn State. Schunzel said the award and theupset speak to how well the Cardinals have been playing thisseason.
"The upset opened people's eyes," Schunzel said. "People didn'tthink we would be this good this early in the season."
Though it appears the Cardinals are stepping down theircompetition, from the No. 9 team to a Division III team, Waltonsaid Springfield will come to Muncie primed for an upset of theirown.
"They are the best team Division III has to offer," Walton said."You don't win back-to-back-to-back championships without havingkids who know how to play volleyball and know how to compete."
The second of the two matches this weekend will be played at 7p.m. Sunday, during the Super Bowl. Walton said the match wasoriginally scheduled for 2 p.m., but was moved back because themen's basketball team have a game at Worthen Arena at thattime.
Because the men's team will be practicing in the arena the nightbefore, Saturday's match was moved from Worthen to Irving Gym.Walton said that Worthen Arena gives the Cardinals a hugehome-court advantage because most teams aren't accustomed toplaying in such a spacious gym.
Schunzel, however, said the players are excited about playing inIrving Gym. The team played all its matches in Irving until theearly-'90s, and former players talk about the energized atmosphereof packing fans into a smaller gym, Schunzel said.
"We've been trying to get (Walton) into letting us play (inIrving)," Schunzel said. "The crowd will be rowdy. I bet there'llbe even more energy in there than Worthen."
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