If Ball State needed a warm-up before the start of conference play, it came in the form of Limestone and Pfeiffer this weekend.
Freshman outside attacker Shane Witmer and junior outside attacker Larry Wrather played major roles in guiding Ball State to defeat Limestone 3-1 on Friday and Pfeiffer 3-0 on Saturday.
Witmer flashed his evolving skills on offense by hitting a career-high 15 kills and a .333 attack percentage in four sets on Friday.
His play may be due to more than just settling in as a collegiate volleyball player. Coach Joel Walton said Witmer's health is improving each week as he deals with a nagging shoulder injury. Walton credited the team's trainer, Rachel Henry, for Witmer's recent progressed after it was thought he had "plateaued."
"This week in particular, I think his shoulder started to feel better," Walton said. "He was a little bit more relaxed or just willing to take a good rip at the ball. That paid off in critical moments against Limestone."
Walton couldn't say if Witmer was fully healthy now, but he said he thinks Witmer's feeling better than he did at the start of the season.
While Witmer shined against Limestone, Wrather took the reins the following night. He finished with eight kills and only one attack error to .438, his best total of the season.
"I thought Larry Wrather played very well, and extremely well in key moments," Walton said. "As we were trying to finish off the match, Larry got a couple critical kills for us in the third game, including the kill for match point."
Playing in the smaller environments of Limestone's Timken Center and Pfieffer's athletics complex was a non-issue for the Cardinals after it was a mild concern of Walton's throughout the week.
The coach even managed to take a shot at the opposing fanbases for their attempts to distract players at the service line.
"I don't think they were as clever as we've seen at some locations," Walton said. "Really, they weren't hostile. But they were getting pretty excited when good things happened for their team, and I thought we handled that situations well."
With a 5-2 nonconference record, Ball State will open Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play with home matches against Loyola at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Lewis at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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