Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Signs Four Student-Athletes With NLI's
November 20, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's volleyball program has signed four new participants to the 2017 class with National Letters of Intent, including Blake Reardon (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy), Courtland Scharenborg (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne), Spencer Smith (Fishers, Ind./Cathedral) and Matt Szews (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) according to head coach Joel Walton.
Reardon is a 6-foot-5 outside hitter, Scharenborg is a 6-foot-five setter, while Smith is a 6-foot-7 opposite, and Szews is a 6-foot-8 opposite. Scharenborg and Szews have completed their senior season, while Reardon and Smith will begin theirs in the spring of 2016 prior to joining the Cardinals for the 2017 season.
Reardon enters his senior year at Joliet Catholic Academy with a multitude of awards, including All-Area (2014-15) and All-Conference (East Suburban Catholic, 2014-15), in addition to being named in the Chicago Sun Times Preseason Top 100 Boys Players. This past spring, the Joliet Catholic team went 7-1 in conference play, while individually Reardon earned All-State Second Team honors. Reardon also boasts a 3.76 GPA going into his senior season and is a member of the National Honor Society.
Scharenborg is rounding out his senior season at Princess Anne after being named to First Team All-Conference two years running. The Princess Anne team currently holds a 24-3 overall and 5-1 conference record, while Scharenborg has aided the team in posting a 102-18 mark over the last four seasons. Holding a career total of 1923 assists, 477 kills, 92 aces and 88 blocks, Scharenborg leads the Princess Anne team, which is competing this weekend for its third consecutive state title. Scharenborg also earned First Team All-Region, First Team All-State, and Second Team All-Tidewater honors his junior season.
Smith enters his senior season at Cathedral with a 3.4 GPA. Smith and his team finished fifth in the state his sophomore season, prior to finishing third overall his junior season. After earning the Cathedral team's Most Improved Player title his sophomore year, Smith added the recognitions of team MVP, Indiana All-Star Team and State All-Tournament Team honors to his collection junior year.
Szews recently closed out his senior season by earning Greater Metro Conference Player of the Year accolades, in addition to being named state Player of the Year and to First Team All-Conference. Szews posted 410 kills, 40 aces and 109 digs his senior season, as well as aided the Brookfield East team to two conference championships and two state semifinals in his career. Establishing a career best of .762 hitting percentage in a three-game match, Szews also earned Second Team All-Conference honors his junior year. Holding a 3.4 GPA, Szews is an honor roll student at Brookfield East.
The 2016 men's volleyball team will open their season when they welcome Stanford on Friday, Jan. 8 to Worthen Arena at 7:30 p.m.
Stay up-to-date on all Ball State men's volleyball action by following @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter.
