Ball State University Athletics
WVB Announces 2015 Schedule & Ticket Prices
June 09, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Ball State women's volleyball head coach Steve Shondell announced the team's 30-match regular season schedule for the 2015 season, which is highlighted by 12 home matches and Sept. 18 showdowns with Notre Dame and Purdue.
“We have put together another challenging non-conference schedule which features some of the top teams from across the country,” Shondell said. “After playing without a senior on the roster last year, we have a very experienced group of returning players who are hungry to help the program return to the NCAA Championship. We have some challenging days ahead of us in 2015, but this group is focused and determined to help Ball State volleyball climb back atop the mountain.”
Season tickets for the Cardinals' 12-match home slate, which includes the Active Ankle Challenge, a non-conference showdown versus IPFW and eight Mid-American Conference home matches, are currently on sale for $39 for adults and $25 for youth (ages 2-18) by calling the Ball State ticket office at 1.888.BSU.Ticket. Single-match tickets are also on sale at $6 for adults and $3 for youth. Ball State students receive free admission with their student ID.
Ball State opens the 2015 campaign by hosting the Active Ankle Challenge (Aug. 28-29) in what will be the debut of the newly redone Worthen Arena floor. Scheduled to join the Cardinals for the event are Albany, Belmont and New Mexico which is coached by 1986 Ball State graduate and two-year men's volleyball letterwinner Jeff Nelson (1985-86).
After traveling to IUPUI for a Sept. 2 mid-week showdown, the Cardinals head to Nashville, Tenn., for a tournament hosted by Lipscomb (Sept. 4-5). Ball State opens the event versus the host Lady Bisons which features another Ball State men's volleyball alum on the bench in assistant coach Billy Ebel (2007-10). The Cardinals are also scheduled to face Florida Atlantic on the opening day of the event, while closing out the tournament versus Pepperdine.
The following weekend, Ball State travels to Washington State University where it will compete in the Cougar Challenge (Sept. 11-12) versus Utah Valley, Washington State and Morehead State. After the trip to Pullman, Wash., it will be a week of family showdowns for the Cardinals starting Sept. 16 when IPFW comes to Worthen Arena. The Mastodons' coaching staff features assistant coach Jasmine Fullove who is Shondell's niece.
The family rivalry continues into the weekend, when Ball State heads to West Lafayette for the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge (Sept. 18-19). After playing in-state rival and perennial national power Notre Dame for the first time since 1996 to open the tournament, the Cardinals battle the host Boilermakers in a battle of the Shondell brothers. Purdue is led by head coach and two-year Ball State men's volleyball letterwinner Dave Shondell (1978, 80) and assistant coach and four year men's volleyball letterwinner John Shondell (1989, 91-93). The Shondell brothers last squared off in the 2011 Active Ankle Challenge hosted by Purdue. The Cardinals close the tournament and non-conference action the following day versus South Dakota.
Ball State opens its 16-game MAC slate with a road matches at Toledo (Sept. 24). During league play, the Cardinals will play home-and-home matches versus each of the other five MAC West Division programs, while playing each MAC East Division squad once. Of its six cross-divisional matches, the Cardinals will host Miami (Oct. 23), Bowling Green (Oct. 24) and Buffalo (Oct. 31), while traveling to Akron (Sept. 16), Ohio (Oct. 16) and Kent State (Oct. 17).
“The Mid-American Conference continues to be one of the top leagues in the nation,” Shondell said. “We will have to be playing our best volleyball on a nightly basis if we want to battle for the title.”
The 2015 MAC Volleyball Championship runs Nov. 19-22 and will be played at Ohio University who captured the 2014 MAC regular season championship to earn hosting rights for the eight-team event. The winner of the conference tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the 35th Annual NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship which begins Friday, Dec. 4.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
