While the battle of the Shondell brothers is not on the 2010 women's volleyball non-conference slate, expect that to change in the near future.
Ball State University coach Steve Shondell is in negotiations with his brother and Purdue University coach Dave Shondell to meet on the court in the 2011 season.
If the deal in progress becomes official, Ball State will play in Purdue's 2011 early season tournament, Dave Shondell said.
"We're working on [a] tournament, putting together our 2011 early season tournament — the last weekend in August — here in Purdue, and Steve has indicated that Ball State would be interested in participating in it," Dave Shondell said. "We may reciprocate by returning to Muncie. I wouldn't be opposed to playing Ball State on a regular basis, but this is in the early stages."
The Cardinals played in that tournament last year to open the season in Lafayette and suffered not only the loss to Purdue but also the losses of libero Alyssa Rio and outside hitter Hannah Sullivan to injuries. It was also the second consecutive year that the Big Ten team swept Ball State in a non-conference match.
Steve Shondell said within the first week after being named Ball State's head coach that he wanted to schedule a match against Purdue. The Cardinals' coach, who is recruiting at the volleyball championships in Orlando, Fla., was unavailable for comment.
Purdue returns 11 players in 2010 after it finished last season 14-17 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. In his eight seasons with the Boilermakers, Dave Shondell has a 138-92 career record.
Ball State ended last season 15-16 with a loss in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Steve Shondell was hired in April after former head coach Dave Boos resigned to accept an assistant coaching position at the University of Florida.
Prior to coaching at Ball State, Steve Shondell had won 13 consecutive state girl's volleyball championships at Burris Laboratory School.
Dave and Steve Shondell are the sons of Hall of Famer and former Ball State men's volleyball coach Don Shondell. In addition, both coaches played for their father at Ball State and were all-conference players.
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