After losing a talented senior class, the women’s volleyball team’s identity remained to be seen entering the season.
Sitting at 6-7, Ball State has now completed the first half of its road-heavy tournament schedule.
The Cardinals have won three of four, and are coming off a midweek win against in-state rival IPFW, before going 2-1 at the VCU Invitational. The only loss over the weekend came against a surging VCU squad that ultimately won the tournament title.
Head coach Steve Shondell said the win against IPFW was the best he's seen his team perform this season.
In recent weeks, Shondell has been moving personnel around the court, looking for the best combination.
One of the biggest changes has been Alex Fuelling moving from outside hitter to libero.
Shondell has been pleased with Fuelling's play at libero, as the redshirt junior has given the Cardinals energy when needed most.
“In the final three games, Alex Fuelling has played extremely well in the second half of the match,” Shondell said.
The change in lineup has forced redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Kitchel and redshirt freshman Sabrina Mangapora to play a larger role on the offensive side. One of the two players led the team in kills in all four matches this week.
Mangapora is enjoying contributing to her team’s success, and said it is nice to see the team's hard work starting to pay off.
The Cardinals are using a combination of youth and experience to make a formidable rotation of players. Redshirt juniors Hayley Benson and Kelly Hopkins, junior Jenna Spadafora, and sophomore Nikki Box all made significant contributions at the VCU Invitational.
Ball State will begin its conference schedule on Sept. 26, when the Cardinals travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on Western Michigan. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
