The Ball State University men's volleyball team will play No. 11 Lewis University starting 7:30 p.m. at Worthen Arena. Below are some notes about the match.
Matt McCarthy returns
Middle attacker Matt McCarthy will return to the starting lineup for tonight's match against Lewis, coach Joel Walton said Wednesday.
McCarthy, a preseason all-conference selection, missed the Cardinals' first three matches because of a shoulder injury.
In his last match against Lewis - the 2008 conference tournament semifinals - McCarthy had 13 kills and a team-high .455 attack percentage. The Cardinals defeated the Flyers in four games to advance to the MIVA Championship Match.
Outside attacker Todd Chamberlain said middle attacker Andy Nelson did a good job replacing McCarthy in the starting lineup. Chamberlain also said McCarthy is able to provide more experience and will help improve the Cardinals' offense.
Left outside attackers
Coach Joel Walton said he would start Marcus Imwalle, Lee Meyer, Dominic Spadavecchio or Matt Sprague at the two left outside attacker positions against Lewis.
The coach said Wednesday that the team is still trying to find consistent offense from the left outside attackers. In the Cardinals' loss against No. 1 Penn State University last weekend, the left outside attackers combined for a -.004 attack percentage.
With Lewis setting most of its balls to its two left outside attackers Drew Pickering and Nathan Klass, Walton said, he is wanting a left outside attacker who can put up a good block.
Gasparovic going to the air for serves
Middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic jump serving during the Ball State's last home match two weeks ago was not an abomination.
After fully healing from an injury last season, coach Joel Walton said last week that Gasparovic has regained his confidence with a jump serve. The coach also said Gasparovic will primarily be jump serving throughout the season.
As a freshman last season, Gasparovic float served for almost the entire season.
In four matches this season, the middle attacker has two serving aces and four serving errors.
Chamberlain looks to get in the top 20
Senior outside attacker Todd Chamberlain's 651 career kills gives him a chance to end his career in the school's top 20 for career kills.
With 22 regular season matches remaining, Chamberlain will need 194 more kills to tie Lee Killian for 20th on the all-time list.
Chamberlain averages a team-high 4.10 kills per game and has had more than 15 kills in two of the three matches this season.
Chasing win 1,000
Ball State will have a chance to get a program milestone at Worthen Arena during the team's four-match home stand during the next two weeks.
The Cardinals have 997 all-time wins in program history and will need to win three of their four next matches to reach their 1,000th win at home.
"It would be fantastic to share that moment with the Ball State crowd," coach Joel Walton said. "We want to be able to reward them for their support, and there is no better way to do that then to get that 1,000th win at home."
In the Cardinals' season-opener against No. 6 Stanford University, a Worthen Arena-record 3,729 people attended the match.
During the four-match home stand, Ball State will play No. 11 Lewis University tonight, George Mason University on Feb. 5, Rutgers-Newark University on Feb. 6 and the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 13.
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