Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Season Preview
January 09, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 12 Ball State men's volleyball team opens the 2009 season Saturday, January 17 with a 7:30 p.m. home match versus No. 8 Stanford.
Admission to the match is FREE for all fans, and there will be a FREE poster autograph session immediately following the contest.
MUNCIE, Ind. - - After a highly successful 2008 campaign, which saw the Ball State men's volleyball team climb to as high as sixth in the nation, the Cardinals and 11th-year head coach Joel Walton will rely on experience and depth to retain their position as one of the top teams in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.
"There are a lot of similarities between this year's team and the 2008 squad which is very nice to see," said Walton. "In spite of our losses to graduation, we return a significant portion of our roster, including a league-high four student-athletes who earned MIVA postseason honors."
The deepest and most experienced position for the Cardinals this season looks to be at middle attacker, where the team returns 2008 First Team All-MIVA selection Matt McCarthy and the 2008 MIVA Freshman of the Year J.D. Gasparovic.
McCarthy, who enters his senior season ranked 19th in program history with 321 career blocks, finished the 2008 season ranked 10th in the nation with a .428 hitting percentage, while ranking 18th nationally with a 1.16 blocks-per-game average. Gasparovic turned out to be one of the nation's top blockers as a freshman, ranking first in the MIVA and sixth in the nation with a 1.36 blocks-per-game average. He also averaged 1.53 kills-per-game while hitting for a .303 rate of success.
"Matt is our best offensive middle," said Walton. "He has great court vision and understands how to read a variety of different situations. He put up huge offensive numbers last season, despite drawing a lot of focus from our opponent's defenses. J.D. was our best blocker last year. We are just working on taking his offense to the next level."
Adding depth to the middle will be junior Ben Irwin and sophomore Andy Nelson. Irwin, who is in his last season with the program, played in 10 matches in 2008, averaging 1.29 kills and 0.94 blocks per game. Nelson joins the program after playing club volleyball at Minnesota for the past two years, where he utilized what amounts to his redshirt and freshman year of eligibility.
"Ben is a big, physical presence in the middle," said Walton. "He is continually developing his game and will challenge for playing time this season. Andy had a great preseason of competition for our team. Although Andy has only played volleyball for two years, he showed he is capable of competing at the highest level in our league this preseason."
Looking to spread the ball to all of BSU's offensive weapons is 2008 Second-Team All-MIVA selection junior setter Ethan Pheister. In his first two years with the program, Pheister has developed into one of the top offensive and defensive setters in the league. Last year, he guided the Ball State offense to a .255 attack percentage, while producing 0.92 blocks per game.
"Ethan's challenge this year is to run our offense at a much higher efficiency than we were able to attain in his first two seasons," said Walton. "A .300 team hitting percentage has been our goal the last two years, and we have fallen short of that goal. We have worked hard with Ethan in the preseason on setting a consistent ball, while pointing out different offensive choices available to help him diversify our attack."
On the right side of the court, the Cardinals will turn to 2008 Second Team All-MIVA selection Todd Chamberlain. During his junior year, Chamberlain racked up a 2.94 kills-per-game average, as well as a 1.49 digs-per-game average, while splitting time on both the left and the right side of the court. Adding depth on the right side will be Eric Schulte who played in just two matches last season.
"As our top returning attacker from 2008, Todd continued to pace the team this preseason by posting some impressive attacking numbers," said Walton. "His high-level attacking has us excited for the season. By moving Todd to the right side, we have taken away the burden of passing serves. This should allow him to focus on being one of our primary offensive weapons. Eric continues to grow as a student-athlete, and I expect good things from him this season. Eric has a live arm and throws off our opponent's defenses with his left-handed attacking."
On the left side, the Cardinals will look mainly towards sophomores Marcus Imwalle and Lee Meyer, as well as junior Matt Sprague and freshman Dominic Spadavecchio. Imwalle finished his freshman campaign with a 2.99 kill-per-game average, including several strong performances against UCLA. Meyer and Sprague each saw action in 2008, with Meyer posting 53 kills in 36 games and Sprague adding 73 kills in 66 games. Spadavecchio redshirted at Ball State last season.
"Marcus can just thunder the ball," said Walton. "It is like he has a cannon attached to his shoulder. Lee is one of our best outside blockers and I look for his offensive production to increase in his second year with the program. Matt continues to be a guy that produces offense in a deceptive way. He has a wide variety of shots to choose from and he is difficult for blockers to read. Dominic does a lot of things well, including serving with a good pace and blocking at a high level. He just needs to become more proficient at terminating as an attacker."
"With Marcus and Todd on the outside, I feel like we have a nice one-two punch," added Walton. "Teams cannot focus on just taking out either our right or left side offense, because we are going to have very good options in either of those positions."
The backbone of the Ball State backcourt defense will be junior Billy Ebel, who will get his first true chance to solidify BSU's libero position after backing up second team All-American libero Ian Peckler for the last two years. In mainly a serving specialist role last season, Ebel collected 60 digs over 99 games.
"Even though we graduated an All-American libero last season, we are anxious to begin Billy's next two seasons of play for our team," said Walton. "Billy has the ability to make spectacular plays in the back row and pass very consistently, allowing our team to get in a steady offensive rhythm."
Rounding out BSU's active roster are senior Mark Termion, sophomore James Emming and freshman Daniel Penrod. Termion could see time as either an outside attacker or as the libero, while Emming will see action mainly as a serving specialist. Penrod is BSU's lone backup in the setter position.
"Mark's strengths lie in his ability to pass serve receive and play defense," said Walton. "He has one of our team's best forearm platforms. I look for Mark to be a versatile player for our program this year. James is continually developing his on-court skills. He could see action in a variety of different roles for us this season. Daniel turned in some solid preseason performances and is evolving in his role as the backup setter."
The Cardinals expect to redshirt sophomore Ted Garard and freshmen Jamion Hartley and Nick Battenberg this season.
Ball State opens the 2009 season with a Jan. 17 home match versus Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Stanford. In addition, BSU's second match will see the Cardinals visit 2008 National Champion Penn State Jan. 23.
"Our 2009 schedule challenges the team right out of the gate," said Walton. "By hosting Stanford and visiting Penn State, our team has an opportunity to test itself against two of the nation's elite programs early. As the level of competition in the MIVA improves, it is important for us to prepare for league play by facing highly-competitive non-conference teams early."
The Cardinals will not have to wait long before opening MIVA play, as the team hosts Lewis for its fourth match of the season Jan. 30.
"While winning the MIVA Championship is always our team's goal, we are going to have a lot of competition for the title this season," said Walton. "Currently, the MIVA is a strong league with tremendous parity. Every one of the six league schools has the ability to play high-level volleyball. To win the MIVA crown, we have to compete well every night."
The Cardinals continue several old rivalries in the 2009 season, including home and away matches with Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foes Penn State, George Mason, St. Francis and Rutgers-Newark. Additionally, BSU has a chance to play a new opponent this season, when it travels to Phoenix, Arizona, for a two-match series versus a first-year program in Grand Canyon University (March 7-8).
"Our non-league schedule is filled with matchups against elite programs from the EIVA," said Walton. "This season we also have an opportunity to help a fledgling program when we travel to Grand Canyon University. Every time a university adds men's volleyball to its sports roster, it is very significant. I look forward to battling GCU this year and in the future."
While it will be exciting to face the new program, the trip to Phoenix comes at a busy time for the Cardinals, who will be playing seven matches, including six road contests, in a span of 13 days from March 5-17. Matches included in the span are a home contest versus Carthage, as well as road contests at Quincy, GCU, Ohio State, Lewis and Loyola.
"March will be a challenging month for our team. Playing that many matches in a short time frame will be tough physically and mentally. Playing six of the seven matches on the road adds to the challenge. I look for that span of the schedule to define who we are as a team."
After ending the regular season with home matches against Penn State (April 17) and St. Francis (April 18), the Cardinals open play in the 2009 MIVA Tournament with either a first-round match April 24 or April 25 or a semifinal contest April 30. The MIVA Tournament Championship match will be played May 2, with the winner earning the league's automatic bid into the 2009 NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by Brigham Young University May 7-9.
