Volleyball Preview and Watch Thread: Nebraska vs Ball State NCAA First Round

Jon JohnstonNebraska (25-4) vs Ball State (20-11) Friday at 7 p.m.

The Cardinals are champions of the Mid-American Conference and an overall young team playing four freshman at times.

The young Ball State team was the four seed in the MAC tournament. They upset Miami of Ohio and Bowling Green to make the NCAA tournament. They’ve been here before. They received an at large bid to the 2011 tournament. They lost to Louisville in the first round.

Their Coach is Kelli Miller Phillips. She played libero for Purude and then coached as a student assistant for Dave Shondell at Purdue. She moved over to Ball State as an assistant for Steve Shondell for six years before becoming the head coach four years…