Ball State University Athletics
New Men’s Volleyball Award Named After Steve Shondell
April 09, 2020 | Men's Volleyball, Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – Off the Block, a website dedicated to growing the game of men's volleyball, has named one of its annual awards after Ball State and Muncie volleyball community staple, Steve Shondell.
The Steve Shondell Award will honor the best passer in NCAA Division I-II on a yearly basis. The award is the first in college men's volleyball to recognize the skill of efficiently receiving a serve and keeping a team's offense in-system.
"I am very honored to have this very prestigious award named after me," Shondell said. "To be included with Olympic Gold Medal athletes is beyond my wildest dreams! To be able to represent the "Volleyball Capital of the Nation" Muncie and Ball State University, as the first former Cardinal player and coach to receive an award of this magnitude is extremely humbling. My father and Ball State University molded me into the coach I became. I have taken great pride in developing my college teams at Ball State and high school teams at Muncie Burris into some of the best passing teams in the country."
Shondell helped lead Ball State to three consecutive MIVA regular season championships and earned back-to-back First-Team All-MIVA honors in 1976 and 1977. Following his time at Ball State, he began a coaching career that spanned five decades, and emerged as one of the nation's experts in passing techniques and teaching service reception.
The AVCA Hall of Fame and Ball State Hall of Fame inductee guided the Burris girl's volleyball team to 21 Indiana high school state championships and accumulated more than 1,200 career wins. He also spent six seasons as the head coach of the Ball State women's volleyball team and led the Cardinals to a NCAA Tournament appearance and three 20-win seasons.
Along with serving as a head coach for these teams, Shondell has been a fixture with the Ball State men's volleyball team throughout his entire coaching career. Shondell served as an assistant coach under his father Hall of Fame coach Don Shondell and has privately trained numerous Cardinals.
The Steve Shondell Award will honor the best passer in NCAA Division I-II on a yearly basis. The award is the first in college men's volleyball to recognize the skill of efficiently receiving a serve and keeping a team's offense in-system.
"I am very honored to have this very prestigious award named after me," Shondell said. "To be included with Olympic Gold Medal athletes is beyond my wildest dreams! To be able to represent the "Volleyball Capital of the Nation" Muncie and Ball State University, as the first former Cardinal player and coach to receive an award of this magnitude is extremely humbling. My father and Ball State University molded me into the coach I became. I have taken great pride in developing my college teams at Ball State and high school teams at Muncie Burris into some of the best passing teams in the country."
Shondell helped lead Ball State to three consecutive MIVA regular season championships and earned back-to-back First-Team All-MIVA honors in 1976 and 1977. Following his time at Ball State, he began a coaching career that spanned five decades, and emerged as one of the nation's experts in passing techniques and teaching service reception.
The AVCA Hall of Fame and Ball State Hall of Fame inductee guided the Burris girl's volleyball team to 21 Indiana high school state championships and accumulated more than 1,200 career wins. He also spent six seasons as the head coach of the Ball State women's volleyball team and led the Cardinals to a NCAA Tournament appearance and three 20-win seasons.
Along with serving as a head coach for these teams, Shondell has been a fixture with the Ball State men's volleyball team throughout his entire coaching career. Shondell served as an assistant coach under his father Hall of Fame coach Don Shondell and has privately trained numerous Cardinals.
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