The Ball State University women's volleyball team plays host to its first home matches of the season this weekend as three teams arrive to play in the Active Ankle Challenge.
The Cardinals will play in the round robin tournament against Southern Illinois University, Tennessee Tech University and No. 18 Purdue University.
After starting last weekend with two losses in the Comfort Suites Sam Houston Invitational, Ball State (2-2) bounced back with wins against Centenary College and Sam Houston State. Coach Dave Boos said he wants to keep the momentum going into this weekend's tournament.
"We saw deficiencies [last weekend], and we focused on a couple for this week in practice, and I'm hoping that we can do better in those areas," Boos said. "And doing better in those areas will make a tremendous difference on the scoreboard."
Sophomore libero Alyssa Rio led the defensive effort for the Cardinals last weekend with 84 digs and a Mid-American Conference-best 5.6 digs-per-set average. She said her teammates and she have practiced this week in getting the basics down on defense.
"I think mainly it's just doing everything that Dave [Boos] tells us to do," Rio said. "We have to get the ball in the center of our body and get around the ball so it doesn't shank off to the side, and I think focusing on that helped me to improve and really believe in what he's telling us and doing it every practice."
Southern Illinois5 p.m. Worthen arena
The Cardinals open up play in the tournament at 5:30 p.m. against Southern Illinois.
Boos said the Salukis (3-0) have several battle-tested weapons at their disposal that his youthful Ball State team will face.
"Southern Illinois is a very veteran team," Boos said. "I was very impressed by them from their tape from last weekend when they went 3-0. They just looked like a very tough team to play, so that will be a matchup of experience against inexperience, and hopefully we will come out on top."
Southern Illinois returns 2007 Missouri Valley Conference All-Tournament team selection Kristie Berwanger. The senior outside hitter averaged a team-best 2.99 kills per game last season, while also collecting 2.2 digs and 1.03 blocks per game. The Salukis' all-time leader in total digs [1,534] also returns this season in senior libero Kristy Elswick. Elswick, a 2005 All-MVC All-Freshman Team selection, collected a team-high 4.36 digs per game last season.
Tennessee Tech
The Cardinals next play Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles (1-2) feature five players with Indiana roots who Boos said "know how to play the game."
"Tennessee Tech is a very scrappy team," Boos said. "You can tell they have a lot of confidence and swagger to them."
Tennessee Tech returns its program's all-time leader in assists in senior setter Kappy Lang. The 2005 Muncie Burris graduate has collected 3,810 assists in her career and averaged 12.38 assists per game last season when she was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Tournament Team. The 2007 OVC Freshman of the Year, Leah Meffert, also returns for the Golden Eagles after posting 548 kills and 449 digs as an outside hitter last season.
Boos said he wants his players ready for anything against Tennessee Tech.
"I think they're going to be consistently bringing the ball back to you, and you have to play some good volleyball to beat them," he said.
No. 18 Purdue
Purdue is led by Ball State graduate and former Ball State men's volleyball player and coach Dave Shondell. Another familiar face returns to campus in his brother and assistant coach, John Shondell, a 1992 Asics All-American setter for the Ball State men's volleyball team.
Dave Shondell said Purdue will bring a presence to Worthen Arena but would like to see an improvement in the Boilermakers' defense.
"We're a big, physical team," Shondell said. "We're a lot different than the teams I had at the high school level where we had ball control and out-defended everyone we played. In the college game, it takes a little bit more size and physicality, and we've got the size and physicality, but if we could play defense like the Muncie Central [High School] teams and still play with the strong offense we have, we'll be a force to be reckoned with."
Boos, who used to coach against Shondell as an assistant at the University of Minnesota, already knows what his team will be facing in the No. 18 team in the nation.
"First, you need to accept the fact that they're going to get a couple kills that are going to be a little spectacular," Boos said. "You're not going to stop some of those players, but you can contain them and make them uncomfortable in certain situations, and that's our goal is to make sure they don't feel like they're in a groove at all times and to make them guess a little bit and make some shots that they don't want to make."
Ball State junior outside hitter Julie Breivogel, who leads the team in kills with 48 kills and a 3.20 kills-per-set average, said her team will try to find any weaknesses in the Purdue front.
"We know we can try to figure out what plays they're running, who are their main hitters and where their weak points are," Breivogel said. "We can use that to our advantage, because then we would be able to adjust our defense and adjust our offense to where their weak blockers are and where we find the holes."
The Boilermakers (3-0) are coming off a 3-1 upset win against No. 14 Kansas last weekend. The team returns a trio of seniors that cater to all aspects of the game in defensive specialist/outside hitter Kelli Miller, outside hitter Danita Merlau and middle hitter Stephanie Lynch.
Miller, a 2005 Muncie Central graduate, ranks first in the Purdue record books with an average of four digs per set and is second all-time in total digs (1,445). She collected 556 digs and a team-high 28 aces last season.
Merlau, a 2005 All-Big Ten Freshman Team selection, is second all-time in Purdue's total attempts [3,939]. She amassed a team-best 445 kills and 129 blocks in 2007.
Lynch is a 2006 and 2007 Honorable Mention All-American selection who is second in all-time in Purdue's career list with 1.3 blocks per game and fourth in total blocks [464]. In 2007, the two-time all-Big Ten selection had 423 kills and a team-high 129 blocks.
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