Ball State Sport Link, the national leader in sports media and production, opens its 2021 spring semester of broadcasts this weekend with Ball State Women’s Volleyball vs. Akron.
The two matches start a string of potentially more than 65 live broadcasts in the next 15 weeks ranging from ESPN platforms, social media live shows and SL Digital.
SL Digital broadcasts can also be heard live on Twitter and Facebook (@bsusportslink), on www.ballstatesports.com in 2021, and through the Ball State Athletics mobile app. Baylen Hite will serve as the director of SL Digital this semester.
The program’s first ESPN shows are slated for Jan. 28 and 29 as Ball State Men’s Volleyball opens its 2021 home season, followed by a Feb. 2 Ball State Men’s Basketball contest.
For Friday’s opener on SL Digital, Ryan Klimcak and Charlie Maurer are on the call. Klimcak is joined by Lexi Eblen on Saturday’s match.
While the Cardinals return a majority of last season’s team which posted a 20-12 (11-5 MAC) record, captured the MAC Tournament title and battled No. 5 Nebraska in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals will be missing four-year startign setter Amber Seaman and four-year starting libero Kate Avila.
Ball State returns 2019 MAC Freshman of the Year Natalie Risi who played in all 126 sets and led the offense with 360 kills a year ago. In fact, the Cardinals return nearly all of its offensive production (72.6% of total kills) from last season, including 2019 MAC Tournament MVP Kia Holder, and Natalie Mitchem (259) and Allison Hamaker (243) who ranked second and third, respectively, on the team in kills last season.
