Entering its final preseason tournament, the Ball State University men's volleyball team will be without one of its returning starters.
Outside attacker Matt Sprague will miss the IPFW Tournament on Saturday in Fort Wayne because of an ankle injury, coach Joel Walton said Friday.
This will be the second consecutive preseason tournament Sprague has missed since injuring the ankle earlier in the preseason. The senior is one of two starting outside attackers returning from last season and finished the 2009 season 11th in the conference with a 2.65 kills per game average.
Walton said Sprague's ankle probably will be fully healed when Ball State opens its regular season Jan. 15, 2010, against Loyola University.
"It's fortunate he is going to have all of December to rehab his ankle," Walton said.
The Cardinals are one of four teams competing in the one-day preseason tournament. Ball State will play Quincy University and Carthage College in the morning and afternoon before ending the tournament with a match against IPFW in the evening.
With the possibility of playing 15 games in one day, Walton said he plans to give all 14 players on his active roster significant playing time. He also said he will use his starters as needed against Quincy and Carthage to make sure they are rested for the IPFW match.
The Mastodons finished the last season in fifth place in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament. In their two conference matches, Ball State defeated IPFW both times — including a five-game win in Fort Wayne.
Walton said he expects IPFW to be the toughest team Ball State plays Saturday. He also said the Mastodons should have improved since the two teams last played in April.
"IPFW last year was a very young team," Walton said. "Even though we beat them, the team continued to mature. I'm interested to see how much they have matured now."
This is the last of the Cardinals three preseason tournaments.
Ball State finished last season ranked in the top 15 coaches poll and lost to Ohio State University in the conference championship match for the second consecutive season.
Walton said he hopes this tournament will be an indicator for how his team will fare in conference play this season and give his team some momentum prior to the start of the regular season.
"I want to see our guys be more consistent. The leaders to lead if we are in control of the match and if we might be behind struggling," Walton said. "It would be nice to end the preseason on a strong performance from our team."
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