Freshman Lanee Mikesell will probably make her first appearance for Ball State University's women's volleyball team today as the Cardinals take on Toledo.
Mikesell, who has yet to play this year, will sub in for sophomore setter Angie Parrell when coach Randy Litchfield needs to talk to Parrell, so she may be in for only a couple points.
Litchfield said that part of the decision was to help reduce when he needed to call a time-out.
"There's only so much that needs to be said in time-out," he said. "And I hate the team being rushed back out, but most of the time I'm communicating with Angie during time-outs."
Parrell will also be battling through a case of poison ivy that limited her practice time on Wednesday.
"We've been really rocked by injuries the last two years, this year it's just been everything else," Litchfield said. "I've never, never seen a serious case of poison ivy before. So, what the heck, we'll try that."
Parrell, a secondary education major in life science and physics, was doing an earthworm project for class when she contracted the itchy irritation. She doesn't expect it to be a problem.
"I don't think it will slow me down at all," she said.
The Cardinals (7-5, 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference) are coming off their loss to Bowling Green last weekend and look to recover against Toledo (9-5, 2-0 MAC). The Rockets have a win over Bowling Green, but have never defeated the Cardinals with Litchfield as the head coach.
"We've been putting a pretty good focus on Toledo," Litchfield said. "We've spent a lot of time on our side of the net. We switched gears a bit, we started to emphasize the scouting report a bit more and see if that doesn't earn us some point."
Ball State lost to Bowling Green 3-0, the school's first loss to the Falcons in 12 years. Litchfield said, following the match, that his team collapsed.
"We've been working on offense, blocking," Parrell said. "Some of the things that went wrong last week with Bowling Green."
The Cardinals have also been working on calm, collective play and staying consistent.
"Basically, not freaking out," libero Amanda McCormick said. "Playing relaxed and calm and keeping things under control."
The Cardinals will have a slightly different line up against the Rockets. In addition to senior Rachel Refenes, who was benched minutes into Saturday's contest against Bowling Green, senior Sarah Obras had an "episode" with her knee and Litchfield said she was "possible" to start.
"Well, right now it's question marks galore," Litchfield said of his line up.
He added that McCormick and defensive specialist Stephanie Bacan would remain in their positions and that junior Heather Burleson and sophomore Brittany May would play larger roles.
"Where we play Heather and Brittany are depending on how Sarah is doing, and that is likely to be a game-time decision," Litchfield said. "[They] will play huge roles and they're both ready for it."
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