With the Ball State women's volleyball player reviews now complete, it's time to shift focus to the upcoming men's volleyball season. The men's team kicks off the year with the annual Alumni match this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Of course it's just an exhibition match, but it'll mark the return of competitive volleyball to Worthen Arena for the first time in over a month.In preparation for the start of the season, I'll be doing another four-part series this week on the team's players, focusing each day on a new position and analyzing the outlook for each player this season.
I'll follow the same pattern I used with the women's volleyball series, meaning I'll start with the libero and setters, then move onto outside attackers and then middle attackers.
Setters and Libero
Projected starting setter - sophomore Graham McIlvaine
Analysis: Heading into this season, I think Ball State has two starting setters in Graham McIlvaine and Dan Wichmann. Neither really demonstrated in 2011 that they were significantly better than their counterpart, so this could turn into an interesting battle this season to claim the starting job. Right now, I still fully expect McIlvaine to come into the season as the starter. He was a highly recruited player coming out of high school and has the physical skillset to be dominant. A 6'6 setter just can't be overlooked. His only problem is consistency, and it's the reason he was benched for a portion of the 2011 season for Wichmann. If McIlvaine can show this year that he can maintain a high level of play without the occasional headaches, he'll have the job. Controlling the offense this year will no doubt be a little different than the last with Matt Leske, Kevin Owens and Derek Menendez now projected to receive most of the playing time at middle attacker. That will create a different situation for McIlvaine in distributing the ball offensively, so it'll be interesting to see how he and the team adjusts.
Projected back-up setter - junior Dan Wichmann
Analysis: We arrive at the player with my favorite Steve Shondell nickname: Dan "The Candle in the Wind" Wichmann. Hearing Shondell announce matches is one of my favorite parts about covering the men's team in the spring. Anyway, I think it'll be interesting to see what kind of playing time Wichmann earns this season. I consider him to be more consistent, yet a little less talented than McIlvaine. He does a lot of good things on the court and usually avoids mistakes in running the offense, but he doesn't flash as much impressive abilities as McIlvaine. There's a fair share of pros and cons with each player. Yes, the point I'm trying to make in analyzing these two setters is that it's tough to keep either player on the bench. Coach Joel Walton sided with McIlvaine for the most part last year and I expect him to do it again, but this could be a battle throughout the season again if either player doesn't make a significant leap in their play.
Projected second back-up setter – junior Elias Aparcedo
Analysis: Aparcedo's college career puzzles me so far. He was successful at Loyola Academy in high school and was named the team's most valuable player before signing with IPFW. After a season of little playing time outside of one start in which he tallied 71 assists, he decided to transfer to Ball State before the 2011 season. With the talented McIlvaine coming in and Wichmann already on the roster, the move still doesn't make sense to me, especially after Aparcedo didn't receive any playing time in 2011. What I have to go on are his Youtube videos, one sporting over 130,000 views, and the pre-college hype surrounding him three years ago. I think Aparcedo is talented and he would he provides Ball State with a scary amount of depth at the setter position. But is their enough playing time to go around? I just don't think so.
Projected starting libero – redshirt sophomore Tommy Rouse
Analysis: As the only libero on the team, it seemed more appropriate to group Rouse in with another set of players instead of putting him on stage for his own section of this series. He'll undoubtedly be on the stage this season, though. Rouse is the only libero on the roster, and without Marcus Imwalle on the team anymore, he has no clear back up. Imwalle played for spurts last season when Walton wanted more length on defense. The lack of competition now leaves Rouse alone to show improved consistency over last season. If he can take the next step as the team's libero and prove that he is now one of the team's mainstays, it will go a long way toward Ball State having a successful season. Ball State did lead the nation in blocking last season, but with middle blockers Anders Nelson and J.D. Gasparovic now officially former Ball State players, superb defense at the net can't be solely relied on anymore. The team will need to be able to rely on an improved consistency in the back court to offset this change. My point is that Rouse should play a pivotal role this season in making sure Ball State stays competitive. I think he's ready to take that step.
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