"No" wasn't an acceptable answer for Cassy Herode.
Whenever somebody told her that 6-foot-2-inch women's volleyball players weren't supposed to play good defense or be able to pass out of the back row, Herode utilized extra practice sessions to improve in that area of her game.
Whenever somebody doubted the talent level of the Ball State University women's volleyball program during her four-year career, Herode and her teammates responded simply by winning.
As one of the most successful players in program history with an uncanny talent for blocking from the middle hitter position, Herode, now Cassy Pickett - the 1994 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year - will be inducted today as the fourth player in program history into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame.
"It's hard to grasp all the time as far as how big of an honor this really is," Pickett said. "I really would like to thank my coaches and teammates because without them, this would never be possible and I think it's great that I've been selected for this honor."
A Wisconsin girl at heart
Herode starred at Horlick High School in Racine, Wis., when she caught the attention of then-Ball State women's volleyball head coach Randy Litchfield and his assistant, Chad Weyenberg.
The two Cardinals coaches took a trip to watch Herode win a state championship in 1990 and eventually signed her to play at Ball State that next year.
Rhonda (Gardemann) Murr played with Herode all four seasons at Ball State. She said she and Herode shared a bond no other teammates could break.
"We were the only two out-of-state players on our team at the time, so I think we had that in common and that was kind of fun," Murr said. "Everyone else was from local schools in Indiana, so I think the fact that we were both from out-of-state, we had that bond together."
Pickett said she did not play too much during her freshman campaign, but enjoyed her time nonetheless.
"I was very raw and new to the collegiate game, and I didn't play much my freshman year," she said. "It was all new to [the underclassmen], and we weren't obviously as good as we were when we were juniors and seniors, so things were a little bit different."
It was also her freshman year at Ball State where Herode would meet her future husband, Jeff.
Win, win, win
A 1994 Academic All-American outside hitter, Murr said Herode's athleticism allowed her to evolve into a dominant force on the court.
"As a volleyball player, just her pure size allowed her to dominate the net," Murr said. "She was an athlete that was taught by a very good volleyball player himself, so I would say she was very coachable when she came in and, with her size and athletic ability, just the way she was taught made her a very dominant player at the net."
As Herode improved, so did her teammates.
From her sophomore season in 1992 until her final season in 1994 - one of the most successful periods in program history - the Cardinals won three MAC Tournament Championships and made three appearances in the NCAA tournament. Ball State also had a 73-21 (.777 winning percentage) record during that time span, including a 51-2 (.962) record in MAC play.
Individually, during her sophomore year, Herode was named MAC Player of the Week from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 - her first of four Player of the Week honors in her career - and received the team's Most Improved Player award.
"We were just taking every step and getting better as a team and getting better as individual players," Pickett said. "The playing time increased year by year and with the most improved player, it was nice to get that just to know that all the hard work was paying off."
Herode was selected All-MAC First Team the next season when she was also named MAC Tournament MVP and was selected to the MAC All-Tournament Team. She also earned a pick to the American Volleyball Coaches Association's All-Mideast Region Third Team.
It wouldn't be until her senior year, however, before Herode really began making her mark in the record books. In one of the greatest seasons ever by a middle blocker at Ball State, Herode recorded the second most total blocks in one season (184), the third most block assists (142) and blocks-per-game (1.59) in one season. She also recorded a Worthen Arena record five solo blocks in a match against Miami University that same year.
Her efforts wouldn't go unnoticed. Herode earned her second All-MAC First Team and Tournament Team selections, was named MAC Player of the Week three times, was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player and improved as an AVCA All-Mideast Region Second Team selection her senior year.
In one of her biggest honors that season, Herode was named MAC Player of the Year, following teammate Sharon Knecht, who won the award in 1993. Only Emily Sallee in 1999 has won the award as a Cardinal since.
"[The MAC Player of the Year] was very nice to get, it was nice to follow up Sharon Knecht, it was nice to share it with my teammates," Pickett said. "I definitely did not take it as an individual award because volleyball is not an individual player game, so I definitely accepted it as something that my teammates helped me with."
Overall, however, Pickett said she remembers her team over any award she received.
"I think we had a very strong team bond," she said. "I think as a group, all of us girls got along very well and we played off of each other's strengths and just knew how to play together."
Life after Ball State
Pickett has definitely kept herself busy since leaving Ball State.
She moved to Dallas to enter the Sears management program and after several promotions, Jeff and Cassy decided to move closer to home in 2000. Both quit their jobs and moved to Indianapolis.
After again working in a management role at Sears in Indianapolis, Cassy decided to quit the retail industry following the birth of her three children.
Pickett, 35, runs a licensed day care in her home and takes care of her two sons, aged 8 and 6, and a 3-year-old girl.
Pickett said she looks back fondly on her days as a Cardinal.
"I miss the competition of it - I miss getting out there and having the collegiate competitiveness and just the rivalry and the teammates out there with you," she said. "Looking back and thinking about all of that, I think back about all the hard practices we've had too, and I don't miss those too much, but I miss the games and the excitement of it."
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