Matt Szews season stats:
Kills: 54*
Service Aces: 3*
Digs: 18
Total Blocks: 9
Points: 61.5*
* = team leader
Ball State setter Connor Gross celebrates with outside attacker Matt Szews after the Cardinals won the second set of the game against Saint Francis Jan. 12 in Worthen Arena. The Cardinals beat the Red Flashes 3-0. Teri Lightning Jr., DN
“Not your typical freshman.”
That’s how head coach Joel Walton described freshman outside attacker Matt Szews after his 16 kill, five dig performance in No. 15 Ball State’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 27-25) win over the Saint Francis Red Flash Thursday.
Szews has already made an impact in the Cardinals' first four games, leading the team with 54 kills, 61.5 points and three service aces. He doesn’t look to slow down any time soon.
“I think if I can continue being aggressive and keep up the intensity swinging, it’ll be pretty easy to continue to play at a high level,” Szews said.
Walton said Szews has had a knack this season for turning “unideal situations” into perfect ones.
“He’s just played with a level of maturity and has done a nice job of creating when the situations aren’t ideal,” Walton said. “We’ll throw him a ball in a less-than-ideal situation and he’s able to drive the ball off the block and still manufacture something.”
As a kid from Wisconsin, he’s already appropriately earned the nickname “The Big Cheese” from his teammates. But his strong play on the court as well as his fiery attitude has already earned him a lot of respect from the veterans on the team.
“He’s been a big energy guy for us,” said senior setter Connor Gross. “There’s some guys that tend to get quiet on the court, but he’s not one of them.”
Ball State goes into the second match of the Shondell Active Ankle Challenge with confidence after knocking out the Red Flash in three sets. The Cardinals face the No. 14 Penn State Nittany Lions — a team that has a lot of fresh faces since the two teams last met Jan. 22, 2016.“We have to figure out the personnel that Penn State is going to be putting out there and create a game plan for it,” Walton said. “They have a bunch of new guys on the court — a new setter, a new right side — and it’s going to be a different team than what our guys are used to seeing.”
The Cardinals want to bring their strong serving performance from the win against Saint Francis into the match Jan. 13 against the Nittany Lions. Ball State used strong serves from junior outside attacker Mitch Weiler late in the third set to overcome a late 19-17 Saint Francis lead.
“We kind of struggled early on with serving into the net but I think the ability to go on strong runs at the end really helped us to come back,” Szews said.
The Cardinals will also be counting on another strong home-court showing to help push them to a victory.
“There’s nothing better than playing in Worthen Arena,” Walton said. “With Steve Shondell on the PA and the students on one side [of the arena] and the community on the other, it’s just nice to be in this environment and be well supported.”
Friday's game against Penn State is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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