Young. That is how coach Dave Boos describes the 2007 Ball State University women's volleyball team. The team has two seniors and one junior. The other 11 players on the team are sophomores and freshmen.
The immaturity of the team showed this weekend in the Hofstra Invitational. The Cardinals failed to win a match as they lost to San Diego State University 3-0, Hofstra University 3-0, and Siena College 3-1.
"I think it is disappointing that we didn't come out and play like we had prior to the weekend in practice," Boos said. "We're a very young team; we had a lot of young people on the floor."
In the match against San Diego State on Friday Ball State lost 30-22, 30-21, 30-17. Two Cardinals who had double-digit digs were freshmen Alyssa Rio, with 15, and Karin Caudill, with 12.
"Karin has done a great job coming off the bench as a true freshman," Boos said. "All weekend she was on the floor a lot of the time in every match."
Offensively, sophomore Elaina Katatolis and transfer junior Christine Kennedy led the Cardinals. Katatolis had 10 kills and one error on 25 attempts for team-best .360 attacking percentage. Kennedy had eight kills and one error on 21 attempts for a .333 attacking percentage.
"For the weekend those two players have been asked to pick up more substantial roles [to] take the pressure off our outside attackers," Boos said. "We have tried to disperse our offense a little more. Get it into the middle, and the outside."
Things weren't any better in the Hofstra match. Ball State lost 30-24, 31-29, 30-24. The Cardinals led most of the way in the second game as they held leads at 12-6, 26-22, and 29-27. However, two errors, a Hofstra kill and a Hofstra block, gave the Pride the game.
In the third match against Siena, Ball State lost 30-20, 29-31, 31-29, 30-19, despite a season-high 59 team kills. Three Cardinals had double-digit kills. Sophomore Julie Breivogel had a match-high 18 kills, followed by freshman Abby LaVigne's 17, and Katatolis' 13.
Much like the second game in the Hofstra match, the Cardinals led most of the way in the third game against Siena. Ball State led 19-14 before Siena came back to tie it at 24. Ball State managed to regain the lead at 29-26, giving it three chances to close it out and take a 2-1 game lead in the match. After a well-timed Siena timeout, errors once again cost Ball State the match. The Cardinals had two attacking errors before the game was decided by a Siena serving ace.
"We had opportunities to win that match especially in that game three," Boos said. "Once again we were up at the end, but let it get away."
Boos has said all season serving would be a key to his team's success, and this weekend the Cardinals tallied 35 serving errors to 13 serving aces.
"Aggressive serving comes from having to have a certain level of ball control," Boos said. "If our passing game is better our serving game can be less aggressive. Right now we are having to take some risks in our serving game."
Ball State has lost its last five matches and does not play again until Friday in the Ball State Classic. Boos said he's looking for his team to improve throughout the entire season.
"We talked about from the very beginning [how] we are worried about how we play at the end," Boos said. "We are looking to get in the gym and get better every day."
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