Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Looking For Continued Success in 2008
December 18, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
by Ryne Hillenberg - Athletics Communications & Marketing Student Assistant
Joel Walton, who enters his 10th season as head coach of the Ball State men's volleyball team, is poised to return the program to championship form with 12 letterwinners returning from last year's squad, including four starters and libero.
The Cardinals finished the 2007 season ranked 13th in the nation with an 18-12 overall record, including an 8-4 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association mark.
Leading the way for Ball State in 2008 will be seniors Ian Peckler, Patrick Durbin and Justin Orr.
Peckler, a Second-Team All-America selection last season as voted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and Volleyball Magazine, will return for his fifth year with the program. He has amassed 750 digs over his career and currently holds the career record for digs-per-game average at 2.53. Peckler needs 297 digs this season to become Ball State's all-time career leader in the category.
"Ian will be our defensive anchor," Walton said. "I expect him to lead our conference in quality passes and digs."
Durbin, who redshirted a year ago, will be a formidable attacker and blocker for BSU this year. As a junior in 2006, Durbin earned All-MIVA Second Team accolades after posting 269 kills, 159 digs and 50 blocks.
"Pat is another senior we will be relying on," Walton said. "He has ability to not only be our team's top attacker, but also a match-up blocker that can disrupt our opponents' best attackers."
Orr, a transfer from Missouri, enters his second and final year with the team, will continue to be a force at the net for Ball State. In 2007, Orr totaled 48 kills and 49 blocks.
"Justin, who will continue his academic work in dentistry at another institution next year, will play a huge roll at the net for us this season," Walton said. "We will rely on him for offense and blocking."
Behind the seniors, BSU boasts a full cast of juniors and sophomores who have valuable playing experience.
Starting with juniors, Ball State has four letterwinners that will see playing time this season, including BSU's top returning point scorer, Matt McCarthy.
McCarthy, an All-MIVA Second Team selection last season, led BSU with 104 total blocks and ranked ninth in the nation with a .448 attack percentage. He was also second on the team in kills, with 255, trailing only 2007 graduate Nick Meyer.
"Matt is our team's top middle," Walton said. "He has strong blocking and attacking skills, plus a personality that gives our team a lot of energy."
Todd Chamberlain had a successful sophomore campaign in 2007, scoring 219 kills and a 2.88 kills-per-game average. Chamberlain also totaled 138 digs and 20 aces.
"Todd continues to be our team's most athletic player," Walton said. "He provides a huge offensive boost to our team and his consistency continues to improve."
Ryan Clarke returns for his junior season after battling knee injuries which have hampered him since his freshman year. Clarke finished the 2007 season with 82 blocks and 101 kills.
"Ryan is a wild card we hope to have ready by mid season," Walton said. "He is recovering from his second consecutive summer of knee surgeries. He will hopefully challenge for a starting role in the latter half of our season."
The final junior, Mark Termion, totaled 48 kills and 33 digs last season coming off the bench. Termion, who shares Ball State's record for aces in a match at 11 with McCarthy, also logged 10 blocks last season.
"Mark is one of our team's better ball control players," said Walton. "He also has the ability to provided our team with an offensive spark in the front row."
BSU's returning second-year players include two setters, a pair of outside attackers, a middle attacker and a libero.
Jeff Schmitz and Ethan Pheister return for their second season as BSU's setters. Last year, the pair were used interchangeably depending on the style of offense the match required. Despite splitting playing time, Schmitz was named the 2007 MIVA Freshman of the Year, an award he shared with IPFW's Matt Pliski.
Pheister also played an important roll for BSU, setting the offense to wins over No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Pacific. He also earned MIVA Player of the Week accolades.
"I'm glad we have a pair of setters with college experience," Walton said. "Both are capable of running our team's offense. While we have yet to find a clear cut winner in the setter position, we are using both Jeff and Ethan a great deal according to our designed match-ups.
"Both have showed the ability to be our team's starter, and I am pleased with how they have progressed. I also like the fact they run our offense differently. They each have strengths which help our team in different ways."
BSU's two sophomore outside attackers, Matt Sprague and Eric Schulte, tallied 77 and 54 kills, respectively, last year.
"Matt is one of our team's best passers and is an experienced volleyball player who maximizes his athletic ability," Walton said. "He is a great competitor who was instrumental in some of our biggest wins last season.
"Eric has one of our team's best arms and we are working with him to improve his consistency. He also has a fiery personality which gives our team a big emotional boost."
Middle attacker Ben Irwin, who enters his redshirt sophomore season as the team's tallest player, will be a blocking factor in the front row for the Cardinals. Last year Irwin totaled 10 kills and nine blocks in limited action.
"Ben is one of our most dominate middle attackers," Walton said. "His progress has been steady since joining our program in 2006. We look for him to play an increasingly important role this season."
Libero Billy Ebel, who is training to take over for fifth-year senior Ian Peckler, was mainly a serving specialist for the Cardinals last season, racking up five aces and 14 digs.
"We have seen great improvement in Billy's passing and defense this fall," Walton said. "He will continue to be a serving and defensive substitute for us and could push Ian for some playing time as our starting libero, which is high praise since Ian was an All-American last year."
The Cardinals also have an array of talented freshman who should contribute immediately. Redshirt freshman Marcus Imwalle, as well as true freshmen James Emming, Ted Garard, J.D. Gasparovic and Lee Meyer will all see playing time.
Dominic Spadavecchio and Daniel Penrod are expected to redshirt this season.
"Overall, I think we've got a good mix of returning veterans and talented, young players," Walton said. "They have me excited about the season."
The Cardinals open the 2008 season in sunny Honolulu for the Outrigger Hotels Invitational. Ball State will play on three consecutive days starting Jan. 3 against UCLA. BSU will also face Hawaii and Penn State in the event.
Ball State opens a four-match home stand Jan. 18 versus Penn State. After a four-match road swing which takes the Cardinals coast-to-coast, BSU will host Ohio State Feb. 15 to open a six-match home stand which ends with back-to-back matches versus UCLA.
BSU hosts IPFW March 21 and ends the regular season with matches at Ohio State (April 11) and Lewis (April 12). The 2008 MIVA Tournament gets underway April 19, with the championship match being played April 26. The 2008 NCAA Championship dates are May 1 and 3.
"Overall, our schedule is really strong this year," Walton said. "We are playing tough competition within our conference and we are playing a number of tough east and west coast teams.
"With the challenges our schedule provides, and the fact we are playing a number of tough matches early in the year, we have had to step up our training this fall.
"The strength of our schedule will be great preparation for our team's most important matches in April and May."
