With the Ball State women's volleyball player reviews now complete, it's time to shift focus to the upcoming men's volleyball season. The men's team kicks off the year with the annual Alumni match this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Of course it's just an exhibition match, but it'll mark the return of competitive volleyball to Worthen Arena for the first time in over a month. In preparation for the start of the season, I'll be doing another four-part series this week on the team's players, focusing each day on a new position and analyzing the outlook for each player this season.
Today's analysis will center on the team's three middle attackers.
Middle Attackers
Projected starting middle attackers– sophomore Kevin Owens
Analysis: At this point, I'm probably heaping too many expectations onto Owens. He's only a sophomore and didn't get too much playing time last year outside of some late sets in blowout matches. And yet, I saw something special in that limited playing time. It only helped that coach Joel Walton praised Owens every time that I mentioned him. Both his defensive and offensive abilities appear to be outstanding, and he uses his entire 6'9 frame to accomplish that. Owens does have the shadows of Anders Nelson and J.D. Gasparovic hanging over him right now, but I don't think it's going to take him long this season to create his own reputation at Ball State. What's paramount for Owens is that he manages to stay healthy this season. Since Derek Menendez has now left the program, only three middle attackers remain on Ball State's roster. On paper, that doesn't too alarming considering the team only had four middle attackers on the active roster last year. However, this group doesn't have the luxury of having Nelson and Gasparovic along for the ride. With all of that in mind, Owens essentially is carrying high expectations by default. But heading into the season, I don't have any doubt that he'll succeed in meeting them.
Projected starting middle attacker– junior Matt Leske
Analysis: Leske has gone for a redshirt player last April to a starting middle attacker now. He took a different route by redshirting in his sophomore year, but he fortunately gave me a chance to review how he played in his freshman season, limited as that is. In his only start that season, he produced a balanced total of eight blocks and seven kills. That's impressive considering it was his first career start, even if I don't want to draw too many conclusions from one match. I don't know exactly what to expect from Leske this season, but I'm fairly confident he'll produce well in a starting role. Call it a hunch at this point.
Back-up middle attacker – junior Julian Welsh-White.
Analysis: Back in October, it seemed like Walton was intent on redshirting Welsh-White, or at least giving him some time to develop on the bench. It looks like Menendez's exit is going to change that. He'll most likely have to play occasionally in relief of the top two attackers or if one ends up getting injured. Welsh-White sounds like a very raw player at the collegiate level, but he should be capable of contributing to the team if he grows up quickly. I expect him to have a few opportunities to showcase his skills at some points this season.
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