For the second straight year and fourth time in six years the Ball State University women's volleyball team has been picked to win the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Last year, they fell short of that preseason prediction, but head coach Randy Litchfield said youth, injuries and lack of depth were their downfall.
Litchfield said that this season the Cardinals have fixed all of those and the team should have no excuses when it comes to fullfilling their goals of winning the MAC Tournament and advancing in the NCAA Tournament.
FINDING LEADERSHIP
The team lost only one player to graduation, but her leadership will be missed very much.
Last year's senior Meredith Fancher was the team captain and also was given the team leadership award at the end of the season.
"I think Meredith, though she was small on the court, she was huge off the court for everybody," junior Sarah Obras said. "She was one of the best communicators on the team and I really feel like we're all going to have to step up and fill those shoes because they were such big shoes to fill."
The team has two seniors that have played together since fourth grade in Stephanie Keller and Stacie Baldwin that will look to lead the team.
"That leaves a void and you don't know for a while what kind of problem that might cause, but what I do know is that we've got two of the best seniors that anyone could possibly have," Litchfield said. "Meredith knows Stacie and Steph as well as anybody and Merideth would tell you we'll have no problems."
DEEP, DEEP, DEEP
Several new faces as well as players returning from injury make the Cardinal roster very deep.
The first position the Cardinals are deep in is the setter. With Baldwin returning and redshirt freshman Angie Perrell entering the lineup for the first time, Litchfield said he's yet to determine how he'll split their playing time. He hopes to answer that question while the team is in Brazil for the preseason.
"They're so completely opposite and that's a great benefit to us," Litchfied said.
A question mark sits by Baldwin's ability in the front court while the question mark with Perrell is how much playing time she will be ready to handle, Litchfield said.
Baldwin recorded 1,529 assists last season, the fourth highest season total in Ball State's record book and she sits third in the career record books with 3,443 assists.
The Cardinals will also have depth in the middle and opposite side, a place where they had almost none last season because of injuries.
Junior Melissa Oliver will return after her time was limited last season due to a shoulder injury.
"A healthy Melissa Oliver is an all-conference volleyball player, but over the years I've kind of figured out that to be all-conference you kind of have to be on the court," Litchfield said. "We're going to have a lot of things to look at with a healthy Melissa Oliver."
The Cardinals also welcome transfer Rachel Refenes from the University of Mississippi who will be the tallest member on the team and present a big blocking threat for the Cardinals.
Junior Kristin Westhof and sophomore Kirby Gibson will return after they both had 2003 seasons that saw improvement as it progressed.
"Kristin Westhof has been training great and I think is ready to put a somewhat mediocre 2003 behind her," Litchfield said. "I think Kristin is an all-conference volleyball player if she can get all things going in her direction, mainly health and confidence."
Freshman Brittany May is also expected to make a contribution in the middle.
While there may not be as much depth on the outside, there are still plenty of players that can see time.
The first of those is Obras, who returns after having a record-breaking 2003 season. She set a Ball State and MAC record for kills in a season and also set a NCAA record for attempts in a season with 1,981. Litchfield said he does not want to get her as many sets this season, which should make her a better player.
Sophomore Kelly Cochran should be a fantastic compliment to Obras, Litchfield said.
"She just had a great freshman year and a tough job, she had to hit a lot of balls, way more than a freshman should have to hit," Litchfield said. "She handled it with such great demeanor and never cracked."
Sophomore Heather Burleson and freshman Lauren Robbins will also be expected to help the outside attack.
In the back court, the Cardinals have one of the top liberos in the country returning in Keller.
Sophomore Stephanie Bacon is healthy and will provide depth along with redshirt freshman Ashley Chambers.
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