Upcoming schedule
Sept. 16 - vs. IPFW - 7 p.m.
Sept. 18 - vs. Notre Dame (at Purdue) - 12 p.m.
Sept. 18 - at Purdue - 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 19 - vs. South Dakota (at Purdue) - 5:30 p.m.
Despite a 1-2 weekend at the Washington State University Cougar Challenge, the Cardinals' offense played with more consistency and impressed Shondell.
"We played some of our best volleyball this weekend, and I think we learned some new things about ourselves that we can bring back to Muncie and take with us into future matches," Shondell said.
The Cardinals' non-conference record is now 5-5. Ball State suffered 3-0 losses to Utah Valley and Washington State to begin the weekend, but closed the tournament with a 3-1 win against Morehead State.
Ball State's freshmen showed up again, as Ellie Dunn and Emily Holland led the offensive charge through the first two matches. Dunn was the only Cardinal to receive all-tournament honors.
"The freshman were at it again for us and really played strong out on the court," Shondell said. "They've played some of the best matches for us recently, we just need to work on closing."
While the offense knocked on the door for the first two matches, the Cardinals couldn't close and lost six close sets. The largest margin of defeat was just five points in those losses.
In the third match, however, Ball State put it all together for the win.
"Once it got to the late stages, our opponent's physicality steps up, and during the first couple of matches during the tournament we weren't able to match it," Shondell said. "We found it in the last game and I think if we can carry that over to the next games we will be able to close."
Redshirt junior Mackenzie Kitchel returned from injury to lead the team in kills against Morehead State with 16. She had 28 kills for the weekend.
"She struggled at first as expected with five months off the court, but she really came into her own against Morehead [State]," Shondell said. "She played like the player she was before the injuries so I'm excited to see how she does as it goes forward."
Ball State hit .170 on the weekend. While that's not as high as it would like, there's promise going forward with players returning from injury.
The Cardinals will get four more non-conference matches to get their offense into peak shape before beginning Mid-American Conference play on Sept. 24.
Ball State will return to action on Sept. 16 at home versus IPFW before competing in the Purdue Boiler Box Challenge beginning on Sept. 18.
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