A new season brings a fresh start and an opportunity for Ball State's women's volleyball team to move toward improvement.
Last season was one for the record books but not for the reasons coach Dave Boos might have preferred. The Cardinals finished 5-25, setting the program's loss record and lowest win total. Its 25th defeat came in the first roud of the MAC Tournament, a match Ball State dropped after winning a single set.
However, Boos said dedicated recruiting during the offseason will pay dividends as his lineup is ripe with highly talented newcomers.
"The players we brought in - the transfers - they are all bringing a high level of experience," Boos said. "Alisha Green came in early last semester and got to work with us. She is going to be one of the best athletes in the MAC."
There are 10 first-time Cardinals in all, four of whom are transfers.-áGreen, who transferred from the University of Tampa after helping it to a Division II National Championship in 2006 and a quarterfinals appearance in 2007, is the most distinguished newcomer. The 6-foot-2-inch middle blocker was named to the 2007 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American Third team and had the seventh-highest attack percentage in the nation last year at .395.
Boos said one of the biggest challenges for the Cardinals will be how quickly the 10 newcomers can mesh with the six returning players.
"The primary work has been done in building the roster," Boos said. "Besides that, it will be a lot of work for our staff off the court to figure out how to make this group a team."
The coaching staff will encourage the players to spend time with each other off the court prior to the start of the season, when the Cardinals play four matches in two days starting August 29. Boos jokingly suggested he might invest in some name tags early on to help break the ice.
One of the top returners, junior outside hitter Julie Breivogel, said the Cardinals veterans got to know their incoming teammates when they came on their official visits. Breivogel said she doesn't foresee any problems with the players getting along with each other.
"When they came for their visits back in February, we just got to know them," she said. "Then this summer, when they would come and visit, we would just play volleyball and figure out how they played. Right now I think we are going to mesh well."
One advantage the team will have this year is a more experienced coach. Last year was a learning experience for Boos, who previously lived in Wisconsin where no MAC teams play. Boos was an assistant coach at Minnesota, a Big Ten program, prior to arriving in Muncie.
Boos said he better understands the style teams in the MAC play and what it will take to play at a high level in the conference.
Before the team can get to that high level of play, it will have to get last year fully behind it. Boos said that will be the big early test for the team.
"The biggest thing will be to put the demons of last year behind us," Boos said. "I think it will be a bit of a hurdle for the returners to get over. I think that's where having so many newcomers could help."
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