After completing its non-conference portion of the schedule, the Ball State women’s volleyball team opened up Mid-American Conference play last weekend by splitting road matches against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.
But head coach Steve Shondell feels his team could just as easily be 2-0 in conference.
“Even though we came away with a split, we were really our own worst enemy,” Shondell said. “We just made a lot of unforced errors on our side of the net that good teams should not be making.”
Shondell said the errors were a mark of inexperience, and will be a focal point of improvement the rest of the season.
Ball State began play with a 3-2 comeback victory over Western Michigan. The Cardinals trailed two sets to one, before rallying to win the final two sets and the match.
In the victory, the Cardinals set season highs with 15 total blocks and an attack percentage of .290.
The team showed resiliency, but Shondell mentioned early struggles with service errors, an aspect of the game that has been a strength this year.
Consistency has also been a point of focus all year, but Ball State was unable to keep its momentum, being swept 3-0 to Northern Illinois.
“I think we might have gotten a little bit comfortable with our standings,” redshirt junior Hayley Benson said. “I think that every match we have to go in knowing what we need to do and taking it very seriously, realizing every match is a new game and they can all turn out different.”
The Cardinals struggled defensively, allowing the Huskies to hit .382 on 43 kills. The team only totaled three blocks in the match, after registering 15 the night before.
“I think that it all builds off of each other,” Benson said. “When the block isn’t there it’s harder for the back row to play defense which turns into the setter running all over the place.”
As the Cardinals navigate through conference play, they will look to maximize their potential through practice.
However, experience will come with time and more matches.
“We’ve improved a lot this year, but we’re still making a lot of inexperienced mistakes on the court, and they’ve really come back to haunt us,” Shondell said.
Ball State returns to action at 7 p.m. on Oct. 3, with a home match against Eastern Michigan.
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