DN Weekly Awards
November 11, 2009Each week, The Daily News' sports crew picks its PPQ - the play, player and quote of the week.But it doesn't stop there. With the help of our online voters, the weekly fan choice is also featured.
Each week, The Daily News' sports crew picks its PPQ - the play, player and quote of the week.But it doesn't stop there. With the help of our online voters, the weekly fan choice is also featured.
Ball State University men's volleyball starter Billy Ebel watched as the Southwood High School girl's volleyball team scored to tie Burris Laboratory School in a state championship match Saturday. With the score at 12 in the third set, Ebel got up quickly from his seat among the Burris assistant coaches and walked quickly to the sidelines to yell defensive instructions to the girls, who risked blowing their two-game lead in their biggest match of the season.
Men's basketball beat writer Teddy Cahill breaks down what you need to know about men's basketball in the MAC this season.
Women's basketball beat writer Daniel Sipocz breaks down the matchups in BSU's season opener at Michigan.
The starting quarterback Thursday night for Northern Illinois University is unknown, but Ball State University won't be changing their approach no matter who is under center. Sophomore Chandler Harnish returned to practice this week after missing the last three games with a knee injury. Fellow sophomore DeMarcus Grady has started in Harnish's place and is 3-0 as a starter.
Coming off their first ever Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, the Cardinals return to the floor Friday night in Ann Arbor, Mich., against the University of Michigan.
Cardinals expect a more exciting style of play this year.
With Ball State University's offense focused on the rushing attack, wide receiver Briggs Orsbon has had to adjust his role.Orsbon has been the Cardinals' leading receiver the past two years, but without Kelly Page leading the offense, receptions have been hard to come by. In 2 1/2 games since taking over for Page, Tanner Justice has just 14 completions.Ball State's new run-first scheme has forced Orsbon and the other wide receivers to do more blocking.
Junior libero Alyssa Rio was named the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week Monday afternoon. She is the first Cardinal player to earn the defensive award this season. Rio's combined performance over the weekend against Eastern Michigan University and Central Michigan University earned her the honor. Against Eastern Michigan Friday, Rio posted a season-high 34 digs. She followed that performance up with a 19 dig effort Sunday in helping the Cardinals to a 3-0 sweep of Central Michigan while holding the Chippewas to a -.412 hitting percentage in the third set, the lowest output by a Ball State opponent in rally scoring.
For safety Kyle Hoke, Ball State University football is a family tradition.His father, Jon, played for the Cardinals from 1976-1979 and his mother was Homecoming Queen and the daughter of former assistant coach Jim Hilles. And of course, Kyle's uncle, Brady, the former Ball State captain and head coach can't be forgotten either.
Ball State University men's swimming and diving won seven events in their season debut Saturday, but fell short to the University at Buffalo, losing 158-137.
The Ball State University men's basketball team will have at least three opportunities in the first two months of the season to show Indiana where it stands among the best college basketball programs in the state.
The Ball State University athletics department has yet to begin its search for a new women's tennis coach, according to athletics director Tom Collins.
After starting the season strong last weekend, the women's swimming and diving team failed to find the same spark, losing to both the University of Akron and the University at Buffalo. With the losses, Ball State drops to 1-3, both on the season and in Mid-American Conference play.
For Stan Parrish and Ball State University, the bye week came at just the right time in their schedule.Nine weeks into the season, the Cardinals were able to take a break for the first time this year. Now they are preparing for their final three games.
In any sport, each team looks forward to postseason play and a chance to win a championship.Those hopes were dashed early for the Ball State University field hockey team as it fell in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament to Central Michigan University 3-1 Thursday at the BSU Turf Field.
For the last year and a half the state of Michigan has been running advertisements supporting tourism in the state. One slogan during this time period was "Lose yourself in Pure Michigan." That's something the Ball State University women's volleyball team (11-14, 4-8) has done all year.
After the first weekend of the women's swimming and diving season, coach Laura Seibold-Caudill did not expect to have a winning record. But the Cardinals did.Seibold-Caudill said last weekend's results were very unexpected as the Cardinals fell 12 points shy of defeating the University of Toledo and beat Bowling Green State University. After starting the season in an impressive way, Seibold-Caudill said she expects things to continue in much of the same way this weekend as the Cardinals travel to the University of Akron and the University at Buffalo.
