Confidence can be a fickle thing.
Ball State hit an emotional high after beating Bowling Green on the road Oct. 19 but is coming off one of its worst weekends of the season. Both Western Michigan and Northern Illinois defeated Ball State in Worthen Arena.
But with one last weekend before the Mid-American Conference Tournament starts, coach Steve Shondell said to improve after a disappointing weekend.
“We’re looking at it from the standpoint that we got our flat week out of the way,” Shondell said. “We came back from that Buffalo and Toledo trip and pretty much practiced a step slow all week. That carried over to play a step slow on the weekend against the two top teams in our division.”
Shondell said every team during the course of a long season will ultimately have a dead week.
Ball State travels to Eastern Michigan on Friday and Central Michigan on Saturday, and while it doesn’t need a win to reach the MAC tournament, one would guarantee a spot in the conference tournament. Miami (OH) is chasing the Cardinals, but has to play Western Michigan and Bowling Green to cap the season.
The recent struggles haven’t really bothered the team’s confidence in its ability to win the MAC tournament despite a 6-8 MAC record, said freshman outside hitter Jenna Spadafora.
“I’m completely confident that going to [reach the tournament],” Spadafora said. “When we get to the tournament, we’re going just to turn it on and be the best team we can possibly be, peak at the right point in the season which is now.”
The health of the team was a focus for Shondell after nearly losing senior outside hitter Kara Bates and senior middle blocker Lisa Scott in Sunday’s match against Northern Illinois. If either can’t go, Ball State will have to play without its most consistent hitters against two teams it has lost to already this season.
But that’s not the only thing Shondell is looking at for his team this weekend. Ball State’s passing broke down against Western Michigan. The Cardinals managed to hit just .085 against the Broncos.
“We’re just trying to look ahead and get the team motivated,” Shondell said, “and ready to come back this weekend and try and put that nightmare weekend out of our mind.”
Shondell said it’s about getting the team back to its core identity and the tradition the program has built.
“We have to go back and remember our identity and start playing with pride,” he said. “[We need to] realize we’re the most successful program in the MAC over the last two years.”
