Ball State University Athletics
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Men’s Volleyball Signs Five to NLIs for the 2017-18 Season
December 08, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's volleyball team is excited to announce the addition of five new players for the 2017-18 season.
"Our staff set goals and priorities for this recruiting class over the summer," said head coach Joel Walton. "We were able to sign all the top prospects that we had been looking at."
Starting off the class is Ben Chinnici (Quakertown, Penn. / Pennridge High School). In his junior season, Chinnici set the school record for most aces in a game and most kills in a match (35). He was also named to the Suburban One Conference first team and first team All-State as a sophomore and junior. Chinnici was also named Most Valuable Player as a junior.
"Ben is an extremely dynamic attacker and a great blocker," said Walton. "He is very quick and physical athlete. He also has very great ball control skills and he is someone who we expect to come in and challenge for playing time immediately. We believe that he will have a significant impact during his time in our program."
Will Hippe is a middle attacker from Lake St. Louis, Missouri. Hippe earned four letters at DeSmet Jesuit under Coach Tim Haffner. In his junior season, Hippe was named All-State Honorable Mention.
"Will was one of the tallest middle attackers available this year's recruiting class," said Walton. "Will is relatively young as volleyball player, only been playing the game for two or three years. We already see in the way that he moves, the way that he plays the game, his skill set and his understanding of the game of volleyball that he will fit well in our defensive systems."
Colin Ensalaco (Orland Park, Ill. / Carl Sandburg High School) is a three year libero letterwinner under Coach Sean Airola. He was all-conference, all-area second team and Most Valuable Player all as junior. He also helped his team to sectional, regional and conference championships in 2015 and 2016.
"Colin is someone our staff has been very excited about for a long period of time," said Walton. "Coach Jim Palilonis identified him a number of years ago as he was recruiting in the Illinois area. Colin is not only a great ball control player, but he is also a natural team leader. He has an infectious personality. As we watch him play and compete, we know that he is the type of player we want to have in our gym. He is going to make the players around him better and make our team's culture the best that it can be. We are excited to see the impact he is going to have on our team."
Quinn Isaacson is a setter out of Downers Grove, Ill. Isaacson earned three letters at Plainfield North High School under Coach Tracey Marshall. Isaacson was all-conference, all-area and all-state honorable mention as a junior.
"Quinn is a player that we first recruited as a libero and we were very excited about the possibility of him coming to our team in that role," said Coach Walton. "In between his junior and senior year he began setting. We saw him play that role extremely well in addition to the skills he has as a libero. Quinn is coming into our program as a setter. Similar to Colin Ensalaco, Quinn is someone who makes the players around him better. He has such an energetic personality. He is a team leader, a smart setter, and has a good court sense. We think he is going to make an immediate impact on our team."
Ryan Dorgan is an outside attacker (Spencerport, NY / McQuaid Jesuit) that played under Coach Chris Parks.
"Ryan is someone who I saw play last fall when I was recruiting in New York," said Walton. "He also played for a club team this summer that was coached by Matt Sutherland, one of our former players. The more we watched Ryan, the more excited we got about him possibly coming in and joining our team. Ryan attacks the ball in a way that is very different than that of other attackers. He hits a heavy ball. When Ryan attacks, if you are trying to play defense against him it feels like the ball kind of explodes on your body. We are eager to see Ryan's ability to score points and terminate rallies. We think his attacking skills will translate really well in the college game."
"We feel very good about combining these five players into one recruiting class and we see a bright future for Ball State men's volleyball," added Walton.
The 2016-17 men's volleyball team will begin its season on Jan. 5 as they travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the Outrigger Tournament.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's volleyball team, please follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB.
"Our staff set goals and priorities for this recruiting class over the summer," said head coach Joel Walton. "We were able to sign all the top prospects that we had been looking at."
Starting off the class is Ben Chinnici (Quakertown, Penn. / Pennridge High School). In his junior season, Chinnici set the school record for most aces in a game and most kills in a match (35). He was also named to the Suburban One Conference first team and first team All-State as a sophomore and junior. Chinnici was also named Most Valuable Player as a junior.
"Ben is an extremely dynamic attacker and a great blocker," said Walton. "He is very quick and physical athlete. He also has very great ball control skills and he is someone who we expect to come in and challenge for playing time immediately. We believe that he will have a significant impact during his time in our program."
Will Hippe is a middle attacker from Lake St. Louis, Missouri. Hippe earned four letters at DeSmet Jesuit under Coach Tim Haffner. In his junior season, Hippe was named All-State Honorable Mention.
"Will was one of the tallest middle attackers available this year's recruiting class," said Walton. "Will is relatively young as volleyball player, only been playing the game for two or three years. We already see in the way that he moves, the way that he plays the game, his skill set and his understanding of the game of volleyball that he will fit well in our defensive systems."
Colin Ensalaco (Orland Park, Ill. / Carl Sandburg High School) is a three year libero letterwinner under Coach Sean Airola. He was all-conference, all-area second team and Most Valuable Player all as junior. He also helped his team to sectional, regional and conference championships in 2015 and 2016.
"Colin is someone our staff has been very excited about for a long period of time," said Walton. "Coach Jim Palilonis identified him a number of years ago as he was recruiting in the Illinois area. Colin is not only a great ball control player, but he is also a natural team leader. He has an infectious personality. As we watch him play and compete, we know that he is the type of player we want to have in our gym. He is going to make the players around him better and make our team's culture the best that it can be. We are excited to see the impact he is going to have on our team."
Quinn Isaacson is a setter out of Downers Grove, Ill. Isaacson earned three letters at Plainfield North High School under Coach Tracey Marshall. Isaacson was all-conference, all-area and all-state honorable mention as a junior.
"Quinn is a player that we first recruited as a libero and we were very excited about the possibility of him coming to our team in that role," said Coach Walton. "In between his junior and senior year he began setting. We saw him play that role extremely well in addition to the skills he has as a libero. Quinn is coming into our program as a setter. Similar to Colin Ensalaco, Quinn is someone who makes the players around him better. He has such an energetic personality. He is a team leader, a smart setter, and has a good court sense. We think he is going to make an immediate impact on our team."
Ryan Dorgan is an outside attacker (Spencerport, NY / McQuaid Jesuit) that played under Coach Chris Parks.
"Ryan is someone who I saw play last fall when I was recruiting in New York," said Walton. "He also played for a club team this summer that was coached by Matt Sutherland, one of our former players. The more we watched Ryan, the more excited we got about him possibly coming in and joining our team. Ryan attacks the ball in a way that is very different than that of other attackers. He hits a heavy ball. When Ryan attacks, if you are trying to play defense against him it feels like the ball kind of explodes on your body. We are eager to see Ryan's ability to score points and terminate rallies. We think his attacking skills will translate really well in the college game."
"We feel very good about combining these five players into one recruiting class and we see a bright future for Ball State men's volleyball," added Walton.
The 2016-17 men's volleyball team will begin its season on Jan. 5 as they travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the Outrigger Tournament.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's volleyball team, please follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB.
Players Mentioned
OA
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