Weekend Schedule
Date - Sun, Oct 25
Location - Romeoville, Illinois
Host School - Lewis University
Opponents
Quincy - 11 a.m.
McKendree - 12:30 p.m.
Lewis - 2 p.m.
Loyola - 5 p.m.
After months of pre-season training and workouts, the Ball State men's volleyball team will return to action at the Lewis tournament this weekend,
This is the first time the Cardinals will return to action for the first time since ending their season on a 0-3 sweep to Ohio State.
Ball State will take on four opponents on Oct. 25, marking the first real glimpse of how the team plays in a game scenario.
“The guys have worked hard over the summer on their conditioning and their strength to prepare to come in this season and be ready to go," Head Coach Joel Walton said.
The tournament will open with the Cardinals playing against two Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball foes, Quincy and McKendree. They will also take on the reigning national championship runner up, Lewis followed by the national champions, Loyola.
Walton is very optimistic about their teams chances and what they will take away from the Fall Season beginning with this tournament.
“Its kind of a preview, and it really is an assessment of how our fall training has been going," Walton said. "It will still be a chance for us to see what places we need to focus on as a team.”
The goal in any tournament is always to win, but the Cardinals are looking more at the improvements needed.
Talking on the court is an improvement for the Cardinals coming into this tournament.
“I think one of our biggest obstacles this year as a team will be communicating out on the court together," junior outside attacker Brendan Surane said. "We have a lot of quiet guys out on the court right now, but we have been working on that everyday."
The opponents will be the same competition that Ball State will compete against in the spring, and senior outside attacker Marcin Niemczewski, looks forward to competing against MIVA opponents.
“We have really high expectations this year, we are expecting to do really well in conference," Niemczewski said. "This pre-season tournament is going to allow us to compare ourselves to the other teams and it is a good experience."
The team this year has experience, and young talent coming up that will need to replace the four graduated seniors from last season.
One of those players stepping up is freshman libero and Milwaukee native, Adam Wessel.
“He has been doing really well, and everyone is really surprised by him in a good way,” Niemczewski said.
As the tournament nears closer the realization of the fast approaching season creates anticipation and excitement from both the players and the coaches.
Individual goals for this upcoming weekend develop bigger and better goals for the regular season and Surane knows that all too well.
”I want to see how well I’m matching up with some of the higher competition this year, I also want to see how the team is matching up," Surane said.
This comparison will start with the games in the Lewis tournament.
Other teams in the MIVA have had to replace several key graduates this season. While the Cardinals had to as well, they still have a lot of players who have previously played against the conference foes they will matchup against on Sunday.
“A lot of the teams lost a lot of guys, so it's going to be really good to see the new kids on the court, and who everyone is putting out there.”
Ball State will look to improve and capitalize while playing tough competition Oct. 25. This will be the first time the team can see how competitive they can be, even on a smaller stage.
With last year's final record of 13-16, Walton will continuously improve this year, “every week getting better,” starts now.
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