Don't ever call Jodi Mann an emotional player.
"I prefer intense," Mann said. "When you say emotional I think of tears and I don't do that. I'm very loud. I like to talk a lot. I think I wear my emotions on my sleeve."
Like what happens when she intercepts a pass.
"She pounds her shin guards with her stick and yells something," senior forward Casey Hunsicker said. "She gets really pumped up. Her actions really just show what kind of player she is."
Mann, a senior defender, is the kind of player who is often overlooked until you see a game in person. Defenders usually don't show up in the stat sheet and often operate in the shadow of the offensive stars. But head coach Annette Payne said that just because Mann's contributions can't always be quantified, they are still crucial to the team.
"She's a huge competitor," Payne said. "Her presence in the backfield allows her teammates to do the same."
It hasn't always been this way for the Virginia native. When Mann arrived in Muncie four years ago she was quieter, especially off the field, said Hunsicker, who has played with Mann for all four years at Ball State.
"She came in just very quiet," Hunsicker said. "She did what she had to do and left. Now she's become so much more than people thought she could be."
While Payne acknowledges that Mann was a quiet freshman, she doesn't include herself among people who thought Mann could never become a team leader.
"When you're a freshman you're so young," Payne said. "By the time you're a senior you develop a lot. When Jodi came in she said just one or two words. Now you can sit down and have a huge conversation with her. She's improved a tremendous amount, but I think that's just Division I hockey and what it does to someone."
One of the most obvious ways that Mann seems to have changed is her control of her intensity on the field. After getting ejected from a game against Indiana University in her sophomore year, the defender has had to tone down some of her on-field actions.
"I've learned to keep my emotions in check," Mann said. "I've matured since sophomore year. I've kind of had to put it in the past and learn from it."
One thing Mann is continuing to learn is how to be a bit more offensive minded on the field. With the team changing its system, Payne has called on Mann to be a key player on penalty corners. The new role has already led to two goals in four games for the defender, the first goals of her collegiate career.
"I'm just getting more opportunities," Mann said. "I'm getting more shots even outside of the corner unit. I'm very defensive minded, but now I got those goals, and I'm ready for more."
The decision to give Mann a more offensive role was based on what she could add to the team, but was ultimately Payne's decision, she said.
"We are running somewhat of a new system," Payne said. "It's my job to put people in the proper places so everyone can be successful."
Mann may be attacking the goal more often this year, but she will continue to be a force in the Cardinals' backfield.
"Watching Jodi do an open-field block tackle is great," Payne said. "Its an incredibly hard skill to teach. She loves it and owns it. It's the number one thing she does as a player."
While Mann has the skills necessary to be such an important part of the team, ultimately every conversation about her comes around to her intensity and her drive to become a better player.
"She's fired up," Hunsicker said. "She tries to get the job done as much as she can. She's just a hard ass, other people feed off it."
In her four years at Ball State, Mann has missed five starts. She began her college career as a starter in her home state when Ball State opened the 2005 season playing at William & Mary. This year the Cardinals again travelled close to her hometown to play Towson and Bucknell Universities in Owings Mills, Md., an hour away from her house.
"It's awesome," Mann said. "They got to see me freshman year and now they can see how I've built. It means a lot."
Ball State went winless in its trip to Maryland, falling to 1-3 on the season. After finishing last season 5-13 and losing in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament, Mann is determined to not let that happen in her senior year.
"Once we get this new formation down I think we can be very competitive in the MAC," Mann said. "It's senior year, I'd like to see us go to the championship."
Whether the team gets that far remains to be seen as Ball State opens the home portion of its schedule Friday against the University of Michigan. Whether the Cardinals return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997 or not, Mann will continue to be a force in the backfield that her teammates look to for a burst of energy and passion.
"She's very competitive and intense," Payne said. "For four years she's been a competitor."
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