The Ball State women's volleyball team poured everything it had into its wins over two of the best teams in Mid-American Conference in Northern Illinois and Western Michigan last week.
Now with a week removed from the two MAC battles, the Cardinals must now ask themselves: can they do it again?
Ball State (15-2, 4-0 MAC) will play two potentially tougher matches in Central Michigan (9-6, 2-2 MAC) and Eastern Michigan (13-5, 1-3 MAC) on Friday and Saturday, both at 7 p.m., respectively. While both team's records stand below Northern Illinois and Western Michigan's, coach Steve Shondell said the fact that Ball State will play both on the road significantly increases the difficulty.
"I think it'll be tougher," he said. "Anytime you go on the road in this league, it'll be tougher. It's going to be rugged every match."
Trying to make conclusions to decide which MAC teams are clearly better than others is nearly impossible at this point. Eastern Michigan defeated preseason MAC Champion favorite Northern Illinois 3-1 on Sept. 24, besting Ball State's recent performance against Northern Illinois.
But even though Central Michigan owns a fairly pedestrian 9-6 record, it managed to beat Eastern Michigan 3-2 last Thursday. To make matters even more confusing, Western Michigan won 3-1 over Central Michigan on Sept. 24 as well.
The lack of continutiy between how MAC teams have played each other so far only reinforces Shondell's firm belief that the 2011 MAC has the best collection of talented teams in the conference's history.
Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich said it has become clear early in MAC play that no team is a pushover.
"We can't take anyone lightly at all," she said. "Eastern [Michigan]'s always been competitive, and Central [Michigan], we actually took them to four last year at their place. But from here, you can't play lightly at all. You just got to take it to them."
Even with two intense matches lying ahead, Ball State has taken a vital competitive trait from it's two previous wins, especially with a comeback victory over Northern Illinois.
The Cardinals now have the experience of managing to win when it was four points away from losing against the Huskies. Being able to look back on the improbable victory could be invaluable for Ball State through the rest of the season.
"When you have that kind of experience, you never forget it," Shondell said. "It gives you the confidence that you can come from behind. In volleyball, it's never over till its over. We proved that Friday night. It's such a momentum sport, it can change on a dime. And that was something we learned Friday night."
Whether or not Ball State is able to keep a hold of its undefeated MAC record against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, the team's preseason goals are still fresh in the minds of the players almost two months into the season.
"We want to win conference again," Fredrich said. "We're not just a one-year ‘oh, we had a good year this year.' We're going to do this every year."
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