With three senior starters sitting out due to violations, Ball State will have a significant disadvantage heading into this weekend’s tournament at Michigan State.Stephanie Bacan, Rachel Refenes and Kristin Westhof will not travel with the team this weekend, which will cause drastic changes in the lineup for this weekend. Bacan is the teams defensive specialist, while Refenes and Westhof are middle attackers.The loss of Bacan will put additional pressure on junior transfer Amanda McCormick, who shared the libero spot with Bacan last weekend. McCormick was named to first team all-Big 12 last season.Other players will see increased playing time with the team, including Britney May, who’s play has been pointed out by Litchfield as superior.“I feel horrible for those three girls,” Litchfield said. “But there’s always a silver lining — the one I see is that Britney May will be on the court a bunch.”Litchfield also said that the absence of three of his starters will throw off any plans he had for the weekend and may change his focus and goals for the tournament.“We have to decide if we are going to have to re-evaluate our goals or stick with our original goal, which was to win this tournament,” Litchfield said. “The competitor in me says to go for it. We have more depth this year than in the past.“The lineup and the game plan and all things related are out the window, but I still think we have a fighting chance, thanks to our bench and some pretty good players who are still in the lineup.”The fighting chance for the Cardinals (2-0) will be against three of the top teams from around the nation. They will face South Florida at 10:30 am today to start the weekend.The Cardinals will then face Wichita State, the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion, in their second game of the day. The tournament will conclude for Ball State against host Michigan State at 7 p.m.“There is no bigger opportunity for us than getting to play the top of the Big Ten,” Litchfield said.Litchfield also added that he’s looking forward to getting back on the court.“It’s been a tough Thursday. I can’t wait ‘til Friday.”
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