The Ball State women's volleyball team is about to begin play in its newest era, and the buzz is high.
After first-year coach Steve Shondell moved one mile north from Burris Laboratory School to Worthen Arena, fans could be forgiven for getting a little overexcited. Some have been heaping high expectations on this team, going as far as to discuss the Cardinals making the NCAA Tournament this year.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Despite the great numbers — 1,183-95 record and 21 state championships — Shondell's achievements were at the high school level. Moving to college is a new beast, a level at which he is 0-0 until the end of Friday night's match against The Citadel.
This is largely going to be the same team that finished 15-16 in 2009. There are seven new players — two of whom will likely start Friday — with nine returning letterwinners. Ball State must replace its top two attackers. Shondell wasn't even able to convince Christie Waters to return and help the Cardinals defense, even though she played for him at Burris.
This is still a Dave Boos creation on the court. With such a late start to his Ball State tenure, Shondell is trying to incorporate his more up-tempo style on Boos' players.
To give Boos a little credit, he did improve his overall and Mid-American Conference records each season. But to think Shondell is the last piece to get Ball State past Ohio, which has won six of the past seven MAC tournaments, or the rest of the conference is taking it a step too far.
The MAC preseason poll reacted similarly, placing the Cardinals in the same position they finished last season — fifth.
So with all these question marks, why do the expectations seem a little out of control?
The first guilty party is Shondell.
"This is our year," Shondell said April 20, which was his first week on the job. "This is the group that turns it around and takes Ball State back to the NCAA Tournament."
Whether that was just the outburst of an overconfident coach, fans are going to be inclined to trust the hyperbole of their "savior." It might just be a motivation technique, something to rally the team when morale is low after their fourth-straight losing season. (Despite not having a winning season since 1999, the field hockey team is talking MAC championship as if it's the favorite. This is just something coaches do, no matter how unlikely.)
Then of course, geography is to blame.
East Central Indiana seems to always have volleyball fever, largely thanks to the Shondell family and its contributions. For freshmen who don't live within an hour of Muncie or those who haven't been paying attention, the women's and men's volleyball teams have a small, but extremely passionate, fan base. (They have a fan vehicle for crying out loud.) They're probably the most dedicated fans on campus.
It gives Ball State a sense of hope as well. Last school year, the majority of Ball State teams finished with losing records (thank you to the softball team for being the brightest beacon at the end of a terrible 2009-10). And even though loyal Cardinals tend to be a fatalistic bunch, we love to believe in our teams. The chance to be on a bandwagon early is always appealing.
I don't want to see the bar set so high that we're crushed when a Shondell-coached team loses a match, which shouldn't happen this weekend. The early season schedule is a little weak; Ball State doesn't face a team with a 2009 winning record until Oakland on Sept. 4.
So what are the realistic expectations for the volleyball team?
I think that no one should be upset with a .500 record, both overall and in MAC play. Women's volleyball might be one of the few fall teams to achieve that. If the Cardinals pluck a win or two in the MAC Tournament, even better.
The ultimate purpose of 2010 is the start of a Shondell dynasty, not a miracle. Show us some progress, and Ball State should be happy.
Rhett Umphress is a journalism graduate student and writes 'Beyond Varsity' for The Ball State Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Rhett at rjumphress@bsu.edu.