All good athletic programs need a solid foundation of talent, depth, leadership and coaching. From 1990 to 2005, the Ball State women's volleyball program had that foundation.
Ball State was a model of success and dominated the Mid-American Conference. The Cardinals had 13 20-win seasons in 16 years and claimed six MAC Tournament championships, seven regular season championships and seeing seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
But that foundation crumbled in 2006 when Randy Litchfield was fired as head coach. His replacement, Dave Boos, was incharge of replenishing a depleted roster.
The team wasn't successful until Steve Shondell took over the Cardinals' program this season.
"When we got to Ball State, the roster wasn't quite there in terms of talent," former asst. coach Hugh Hernesman said. "Amanda McCormick had just left after her record-breaking year."
McCormick, arguably the best libero in Ball State history, graduated after setting the NCAA record with 7.68 digs per set. Everyone knew without her it wasn't going to be a good first season for Boos.
Ball State struggled in the 2007 season with players leaving the program midseason. As a result it was worst season in program history at 5-25.
Despite the painful season, the recruiting class was the new groundwork. It's also the foundation that secured this year's 24-4 record and the regular season MAC championship.
"Dave and his staff obviously knew what they were doing," Ball State athletics director Tom Collins said. "They had an eye for talent and brought in the right kids."
Turning around a struggling program required a precise plan. Boos put one together and built the current roster that is the top seed in the MAC Tournament.
"We looked at the way Ohio was recruiting and tried to pattern after them," Hernesman said. "We looked for players that would be in the bottom half of the Big 10 that likely wouldn't have a legitimate shot at playing in the NCAA Tournament but could help us win championships in the MAC."
To the credit of Boos and his staff, they stuck to their guns. While they did spread out and recruit in regions former Ball State coach Randy Litchfield didn't, they were careful in holding high standards.
Hernesman felt keeping high standards kept Ball State from winning games in the short term but has helped in the long term.
One of those benefits was having an open scholarship to give to junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl.
"We swung for the home run each time," Hernesman said. "We wanted players who would win MAC championships, not just players who could win a lot of games in the MAC. There's no way we land Kelsey Brandl if we give the last scholarship to the best remaining player."
Boos and his coaching staff knew they were going to take their lulls. They knew losing would make them unpopular. Hernesman said it was a challenge to be patient and stick with the plan.
The plan and all the hard work put in by the team began to show last season. A 15-16 final record didn't show how close they had come to 20 wins or an upset of Ohio in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. Inconsistent play robbed them of those accomplishments.
In the year since the quarterfinal loss to Ohio, Boos has left Ball State. Collins was able to lure Shondell away from Burris Laboratory School to coach at his alma mater.
"We had a really good pool of candidates," Collins said. "Steve was probably more nervous about making the move from high school to college than I was to hire him from high school to come to college. I was confident I was making the right decision."
This season has been a return to Ball State's glory days. Attendance at home matches has tripled from 2009. Ball State won the MAC regular season championship and secured the top seed in the MAC Tournament.
"I'm extremely proud of this team, finishing their career with a MAC championship, 24 wins and all the bells and whistles," Shondell said. "All of the seniors have been through some sort of adversity in their four years — injuries or whatever — but they've all survived. They're all survivors and better for it."
It's fitting that seniors, such as libero Alyssa Rio, who paid their dues and gone through the entire rebuilding process at Ball State are finally getting their time atop the MAC standings. To this point, they have taken advantage of their chance, but the MAC Tournament is their next hurdle.
"I never thought this would happen in my time here," Rio said. "Finally, we're winning. We finally have a crowd and the school behind us. This is why I came here."
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