Middle attacker Ben Irwin doesn't play much, but when he plays at Worthen Arena the crowd is aware of it.
Coming off the bench in game two of Saturday's match, Irwin received one of the largest reactions from the 327 people in attendance during the No. 15 Ball State University men's volleyball team's sweep against Mercyhurst College (30-22, 30-18, 30-27).
"I have a lot of people come out to support me, which is interesting because I really don't get to play," Irwin said. "I just met a lot of people and I just told them about our games. I got a lot of good friends here."
Irwin, a redshirt freshman, has played in five of the team's 23 matches and eight of 81 games for the Cardinals (14-9, 6-2 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association).
Irwin played in games two and three against Mercyhurst (2-20, 0-11), recording one kill and one block. This season, he has three blocks and averages 1.12 kills per game.
Despite the limited playing time, Irwin has a large fan following, coach Joel Walton said.
"I don't know what Ben's doing, but it seems like he has about 100 people come and watch our matches," Walton said. "Ben's made a lot of friends here on campus and he's the kind of guy we want to be an ambassador for our team."
In addition to Saturday, Irwin played in one game during the Cardinals' sweep against Quincy College Friday.
Prior to the weekend, Irwin hadn't played in a home match since Jan. 26 against the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
The number of Irwin fans is something the other Ball State players have noticed, outside attacker Nick Meyer said.
"He is a great guy and is able to bring a lot of people to the games," Meyer said. "I told some of the guys when he came in during the second game that if we're down in a match and we're at home we should just put Ben into it to get the crowd into it."
Irwin was one of 13 Cardinals to get playing time Saturday, the second most players to play in one match for Ball State this season.
Walton said it was nice to give players who normally don't play time on the court.-á
"You have guys who work hard every day in practice," Walton said. "It's really a reward for that hard work, and it's especially nice when they go out and play well in those opportunities."
Ball State has now won 18 consecutive matches and is 24-1 all-time against Mercyhust.-á
The Lakers are 1-22 the last two conference seasons and could be the first team since 2005 to go winless in the MIVA if they lose their final regular season match against No. 7 Ohio State University.
Meyer said because of Mercyhurst's record and youth, the Cardinals usually overlook the Lakers.
"This isn't one of the matches we have starred on our calendar at the beginning of the year," Meyer said. "It's a Mercyhurst team that we really don't take very seriously in matches past. We kind of take this match for granted every time."
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