The Ball State women's volleyball team held its second and final preseason scrimmage in Worthen Arena on Sunday. It was the Cardinals' final tuneup before diving into a tough preconference schedule that has them on the road for the first month of the season.
Overall, head coach Randy Litchfield was satisfied with how his team looked.
"I've been really pleased with both of our scrimmages," Litchfield said. "The energy level on both nights was fantastic and that's always a concern when you are blending in so many new faces. Our play improved tonight, for the most part, and I'm really happy with that."
The team's main concern heading into the season is a shortage of bodies on the court.
"Right now we lack the depth and the number of individuals to do what we need to do," Litchfield said. "But you won't catch me, my staff or any of the players rolling over. Whatever we've got we'll go with, and we'll give it our best shot."
The shortage of Cardinals in Ball State's nest is due to a combination of player departures and injuries. Freshman front court player Lauren TerAvest left the team early in the summer to return home. Senior outside attacker Shellie Hoffmann, who has played the past three seasons on Ball State's club volleyball team, is no longer with the team after deciding that Ball State's intercollegiate varsity volleyball team was not for her.
On top of those losses, both of the team's returning middle attackers, Melissa Oliver and Kristin Westhof, have recently been brought down by injuries and are currently big question marks.
"That's been one of the weirdest things I've seen in a long time," Litchfield said. "Obviously our numbers started diminishing. Now you throw in a couple significant, important injuries, and although we are not sure how serious the injuries are, they steal practice time away from those players and the team. "
Litchfield and the team are looking on the bright side of the recent troubles though.
"Out of injuries becomes opportunities for other people," he said. "What it is going to create for us is in October and November, we are going to be really deep. We're going to have people that have been in the thick of things and that's going to be a big help. I'm the eternal optimist, so I know exactly all the positives that are going to come out of this."
Sports Editor Cole McGrath can be reached at sports@bsudailynews.com
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