Ball State University Athletics
Top Stories of 2015-16: Steve Shondell Retires
July 18, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
Another athletic year is in the books for the Cardinals. Ball State student-athletes, coaches and teams accomplished several notable feats in 2015-16 and left their mark on the university.
Through much discussion, BallStateSports.com has identified the top 10 storylines of the year. We are revealing the storylines one-by-one each Monday throughout the summer. In early August, once they have all been announced, fans will be able to vote for their favorite stories of the year.
The stories are being revealed in chronological order, beginning with the fall season and running through the spring. This week, we highlight the retirement of women's volleyball head coach Steve Shondell …
Women's Volleyball Coach Steve Shondell Retires
In the state of Indiana, one name is synonymous with the sport of volleyball; Shondell.
On March 28, 2016 after six years at the helm of the Ball State women's volleyball program, Steve Shondell shocked the volleyball world by announcing his retirement from coaching.
While he only coached the Cardinals for six seasons, Shondell spent his entire life both watching and coaching volleyball on the Ball State University campus.
The son of coaching legend and Ball State volleyball founder Dr. Don Shondell, Shondell spent his formative years watching his father build the Cardinals men's program into a national power, winning 20 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association titles, 13 MIVA Tournament Championships and guiding the program to 12 NCAA tournament appearances.
Upon graduating high school, Shondell enrolled at Ball State and was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter for the Cardinals from 1974-77. He was a two-time All-MIVA selection and helped the program tally an 88-13-1 record during his career. He led the program to three MIVA championships and a third-place finish at the 1974 NCAA Championship. He was named Ball State's Co-Most Valuable Player in 1977.
As a senior at Ball State, Shondell was named the head girls volleyball coach at Burris Laboratory School where he himself became a coaching icon. Over the next 34 years, Shondell guided the Owls to an 1183-95 record from 1976-2009. A two-time National High School Coach of the Year (2007 & 2009), Shondell coached the Owls to 21 state championships, including 13 straight titles at the Indiana Class 2A level. In his final season with the program, he led Burris to a perfect 40-0 record and finished the season as the national runner-up.
Under his guidance, the Owls won four national championships (1990, 1992, 1997 and 2004) and finished with undefeated records seven times (1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2004 and 2009). His teams also finished as national runners-up four times and as the third-ranked team three times.
In addition to his head coaching duties at Burris, Shondell was a founding member of the Munciana Volleyball Club in 1974, and served as a club coach. He was also a volunteer assistant for the Ball State men's volleyball program from 1991-1997 and again in 2008.
In his original seven-year stint as a volunteer assistant for his father, Dr. Don Shondell, with the Ball State men's volleyball team, Shondell helped coach the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament three times (1994, 1995 and 1997). The 1995 Cardinals finished the year ranked fifth in the country, despite posting wins over all four teams ranked ahead of them in the final poll – No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Hawaii, No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 UC Santa Barbara.
On April 13, 2010 the next chapter in the Shondell story began, as he moved across Ball State's campus to take over the helm of the Cardinals women's volleyball program. In his six seasons at the head coach at his ala mater, Shondell led Ball State to a 119-68 (64-32 MAC) record. He helped the program return to championship form, as Ball State won the 2010 Mid-American Conference regular season title, earned an at-large bid into the 2011 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship and captured a share of the 2013 MAC West Division title.
The 2010 MAC Coach of the Year, Shondell helped his student-athletes rank third in the MAC with 15 All-MAC first team selections during his tenure. In addition, his players earned five All-MAC second team honors and three MAC All-Freshman team accolades.
In his first season as the program's head coach, Shondell helped libero Alyssa Rio earn 2010 Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com) National Libero of the Year honors after she ranked second nationally with a 5.86 digs-per-set average. A four-time MAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree as a senior, Rio was also named the CVU.com National Player of the Week (Nov. 2).
A 2007 inductee to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a member of the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame (2005), Shondell has also been inducted into the Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame and the Indiana Volleyball Hall of Fame. He has also earned numerous Ball State Alumni Coach of the Year and Indiana High School Coach of the Year awards.
The Ball State women's volleyball program did not have to look far for Shondell's replacement, as it elevated six-year assistant coach Kelli Miller to the head coaching position May 5, 2016. In addition to her six years working with Shondell at Ball State, Miller played for and coached under Dave Shondell at Purdue. She was also a four-time all-state selection at Muncie Central High School and helped guide the Bearcats to a pair of state titles.
Previous Storylines
June 6 – Soccer's Title Run
June 13 – Mike Neu Returns as Football Head Coach
June 20 – Men's Volleyball Wins 11 Straight Matches
June 27 – Nathalie Fontaine Breaks Women's Basketball Scoring Record
July 5 – Gymnastics Success at MAC Championships
July 11 – Men's Basketball Turnaround
