Regardless of the practices and film sessions, coach Joel Walton said he knows the No. 7 Ball State University men's volleyball team will not be fully prepared for No. 1 Penn State University's offense at the start of Saturday's match.
Unlike most teams the Cardinals played this season, the Nittany Lions run a quick-tempo offense with the sets to the outside attackers having a smaller arch and the ball arriving quicker to speed up the game's pace, Walton said.
"It will take us the first game to still feel like we are understanding it and comfortable with it," Walton said. "Every time we play them there is an adjustment period and hopefully this time it will be a relatively short adjustment period before we feel like we understand what is coming next."
Entering this week, Penn State leads the nation with .393 attack percentage, and Nittany Lion outside attacker Matt Anderson has a nation-high 5.70 kills per game average. Also, in its last five matches against Ball State - including two wins earlier this season - Penn State averaged a .370 attack percentage.
Libero Ian Peckler and Walton said the Cardinals spent a majority of practice time this week preparing for the quick-tempo offense by having the second-team unit emulate Penn State's offense. However, both said it's difficult to emulate it in practice.
"Sometimes their offense is so fast their own hitters are surprised at how fast it is," Peckler said. "We just have to be prepared for any and everything."
Despite the Cardinals concerns about the Nittany Lions' offense, Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said the offense will not give his team an advantage throughout the entire match.
"I'm sure we are not much faster than anyone else," Pavlik said. "Joel has trained them well enough to where they can make the adjustments."
The biggest adjustment Ball State has to make for Penn State's offense is its blocking scheme, Walton said.
He said because of the quick sets, players have less time to react to the play and set up their blocks.
"You have to read the situation even before it leaves the setter's hand because it is going to get to the hitter that quickly," Walton said. "It's really a stress on our blockers to do an even better job reading Penn State's offense than what we have to do with other teams."
Ball State is second in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association with 270.5 blocks. In addition, middle attackers Matt McCarthy and J.D. Gasparovic are in the nation's top-15 for blocks per game average.
Gasparovic said if Ball State's servers make good serves, it will eliminate Penn State's middle attackers from its offensive rhythm, making the job of the Cardinals' blockers easier.
He also said to prepare for the quick-tempo offense Saturday, he is working on his quickness along the net in practice and hopes to get lucky on some volleys Saturday.
"It takes a lot of luck and hopefully see a little bit of what the setter is going to do," Gasparovic said.
In actionNo. 7 Ball State at No. 1 Penn State
Time: 7 p.m. Saturday
Location: University Park, Pa.
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