Going from one of the best players in high school to a Division 1 college freshman can be a strenuous experience for an athlete in any sport.
While freshmen may go to every practice and meeting, participate in weight training, put on the jerseys before games and represent themselves as a part of the team, many are regulated to the bench.
Some go the entire season without stepping onto the court.
For the four freshmen on the Ball State women's volleyball team — setter Jaclyn Fullove, outside hitter Marquita Marshall, and middle blockers Hayley Benson and Kelly Hopkins — learning and growing while they wait for their in-match opportunities has been defined as their roles through one month of the 2011 season.
Fullove, the only freshman on the team's active roster, has played in only one point this season. The rest have been redshirted, holding them off the court until Ball State can better utilize their talents.
It's a difficult transition, but one that Hopkins realizes requires patience and acceptance.
"It's a lot different from high school," Hopkins said. "It was hard at the beginning, but I have to understand that Kelsey [Brandl] and they are a lot older, they're a lot more experienced at the college level. So I just have to sit back and wait for my time and get better as I'm redshirting."
The strategy of saving a year of eligibility for freshmen was a luxury coach Steve Shondell didn't have last season.
Now-sophomores such as Mindy Marx, Kylee Baker, Whitney Heeres and Catie Fredrich were forced into extended action throughout the season because of a lack of depth on the bench.
This season, Shondell said he is happy to have a year to prepare the team's freshmen for collegiate volleyball.
"It gives those girls a chance to train and develop and have four more years after that," Shondell said. "Our roster is so large and we have so many players back from last year, we feel like we can get by this year without the freshmen and throw them into the fire next year."
While fans may not see Ball State's young players other than on the sidelines, the veterans on the team see their skills at every practice.
For the senior Brandl, it's become hard to know the potential all four freshmen possess, yet know they're barred from flashing it on the court during matches.
"It doesn't give them justice to just be on the sidelines," Brandl said. "They play us in practice every day and our second side beats us. We're going up against a bigger block in practice than we're going up against in conference games."
The large block from the Ball State's second team could be attributed to Hopkins and Benson. While Hopkins is listed at 6 foot 3 and Benson is listed at 6 foot 4, the 6-foot-4 Brandl appears slightly shorter than either player.
And while it was a tough adjustment for Brandl to actually look up at another player, she said she's excited to see the depth of talent on the team.
"Benson and Hopkins are huge and the tallest players on our team," she said. "But our freshmen are really talented this year. It's so exciting to see them transition from the beginning of the season. They have the skills and they were strong, but the speed of the game they weren't used to yet."
"Now they're getting that speed, and they're getting better than us."
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