With only one day of rest after their 3-0 win against WrightState, the Ball State women's volleyball team will play three gamesin two days. The Cardinals will be one of four teams participatingin the Active Ankle Classic held on Ball State's campus thisweekend.
The team does have experience playing three matches in two daysthough. While on their preseason trip in Brazil, they opened with amatch on day three and then played two matches on day four.
"The biggest challenge is lack of preparation," head coach RandyLitchfield said. "In Brazil we did this, that's got to help thisopening weekend."
The Cardinals will open the tournament against Albany on Fridayand then play two games on Saturday, against Southeast MissouriState and Valparaiso. The three opponents the Cardinals will faceall lost their season-opening matches.
It will be the first meeting between Ball State and Albany, butnot an unfamiliar one for senior Stacie Baldwin, whose cousin BlairBuchanan plays on the team. Their head coach Kelly Sheffield isalso familiar with Ball State since he graduated in 1997. Albanywas defeated by IPFW 3-1 on Wednesday.
Valparaiso qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season bywinning the Mid-Continent, but have never beaten the Cardinals in11 meetings. The Crusaders took on Big 10 school MichiganWednesday, but fell 3-0.
Ball State's third opponent, Southeast Missouri State, lost afive game match against their in-state rival Southwest MissouriState and are coming off of a 11-19 season.
The Cardinals are focusing on themselves as they approach theweekend matches, much like the did against Wright State.
"We still need more reps to improve our pose on the court,"Litchfield said. "We tend to get frantic and look a little goofyand then all of a sudden we're giving up points."
In order to fix that, junior Sarah Obras said she expects theteam will work on what they call "panic plays" to help the team getthe ball under control.
"I just feel like we're there and we know what we need to fix,"Obras said after the first match of the season. "I think we playedreally well tonight and it did prepare us for this weekend becausewe got a good win under our belt."
In Action at Active Ankle Classic
Friday
Ball State vs. Albany 6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Ball State vs. Southeast Missouri State Noon
Ball State vs. Valparaiso 7:30 p.m.
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