Five years is a long time to wait for a winning season, but that's how long the Ball State University women's volleyball team has waited.
With nine returnees from a 15-16 team last season, the Cardinals now know who will be their opponents with the 2010 schedule completed. Factor in new coach Steve Shondell, the addition of five recruits and several walk-ons to the experienced Ball State squad, and it appears a winning season is in order.
"Playing at home early is a benefit for us," Shondell said. "I'm glad we get to play at home in the second weekend. I think it will be good for us to play here early in the season."
Before the Cardinals make it to their home tournament — the Active Ankle Challenge — on Sept. 3-4, they will have to go through The Citadel, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and Indiana State University at the SIUE Classic.
"This is all kind of foreign to me, having never coached against any of these teams, but I like the schedule," Shondell said. "I'm very pleased with the schedule."
This year's Active Ankle Challenge will include Oakland University, Tennessee State University and Robert Morris University.
"With this team, it will be important to win our own tournament. It's more about winning and gaining confidence and showing our fans that we can win our own tournament more than anything," Shondell said. "I'm pleased with our the teams in our tournament, even though we don't have a big name team. You can't always bring in a Louisville."
The high point of the 2010 schedule will be a road trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., where Ball State will challenge the University of North Carolina in the Tar Heel Classic. Also participating in the Tar Heel Classic are Appalachian State University and Temple University.
"I'm really excited and looking forward to seeing Ball State," North Carolina coach Joe Sagula said. "We were trying to get a good mix of teams from conferences we don't see often."
A home date and two road matches fall between the Active Ankle Challenge and the Tar Heel Classic. Shondell hopes his team will be ready for the atmosphere and stature of an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.
"We've got a great opportunity to play against North Carolina," Shondell said. "Both my brothers have coached there and say it's a great place to play at. It's the highlight of our schedule."
The Tar Heel Classic was not scheduled by Shondell, however. Former coach Dave Boos and Sagula scheduled the match before Boos resigned from Ball State in March.
"I was in touch with Dave while we were looking for teams. We were being very selective in the types of teams we wanted to invite here. We wanted a team that would have a good RPI, was playing at a competitive level and [would be] willing to travel to this part of the country," Sagula said. "Ball State fit that and happens to be on the upswing, so it worked out after Dave and I exchanged e-mails."
Sagula indicated interest in continuing to play Ball State in the future but said there were no plans beyond this season's Tar Heel Classic.
"We look at a lot of things when scheduling. Teams are always hosting tournaments, so it's not out of the question," Sagula said. "We try to go to towns and colleges near hometowns of our players to give them the opportunity to play in front of their friends and families, so we could come to Muncie in the future. It's a possibility we'd like to see."
Ball State will begin the Mid-American Conference schedule on Sept. 24 at Northern Illinois University and swing north to Western Michigan University the next day. The Cardinals wrap up conference action at home on Nov. 11 and 13 against the University of Toledo and the University of Akron.
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