LET THE SEASON BEGIN: The Ball State men’s volleyball team kicks off the 2008 season this week with a trip to Hawaii for the 2008 Outrigger Hotels Invitational . . . Play in the three-day tournament begins at 4 p.m. Thursday, when the Cardinals battle No. 3 UCLA . . . Ball State will play in the featured match versus No. 11 Hawaii Friday night at 7 p.m., before concluding the event with a 4 p.m. showdown with No. 4 Penn State.

MORE ABOUT THE HAWAII TRIP: When Ball State plays in the 2008 Outrigger Hotels Invitational, it will mark the program’s sixth trip to the state of Hawaii . . . BSU’s last trip to Hawaii came in 2005.

KEEPING IT ON THE ROAD: Overall, BSU will play its first five matches of the 2008 season on the road . . . After returning from the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, the Cardinals open league play with a Jan. 11 match at Quincy and a Jan. 12 contest at Loyola . . . After a four-match home stand to end the month of January, the Cardinals open the month of February by going coast-to-coast starting with a Feb. 1 match at Pacific and ending with a Feb. 9 showdown at Rutgers-Newark.

MORE ABOUT THE CARDINALS: The Ball State men’s volleyball team returns 12 letterwinners from last season’s squad, including four starters and the team’s libero . . . The Cardinals finished the 2007 season with an 18-12 overall record, including an 8-4 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association ledger . . . BSU was also ranked 13th in the final CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men’s Top 15 Coaches Poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UCLA: The Bruins hold a 20-1 advantage in the all-time series with Ball State, including wins in the last six meetings . . . Last season, the Cardinals suffered a pair of losses at UCLA, falling 0-3 (20-30, 22-30, 11-30) March 14 and 0-3 (23-30, 22-30, 21-30) March 16 . . . BSU’s lone win in the series came March 3, 1995, when the Cardinals posted a 3-0 (15-5, 15-12, 15-11) victory over the Bruins in the opening match of the 1995 Springfield Hall of Fame Tournament . . . BSU is 1-9 versus UCLA in neutral court matches.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. HAWAII: The Warriors hold a 9-2 edge in the all-time series versus Ball State, including seven straight wins . . . BSU is 0-7 in matches played at Hawaii, including a pair of losses in its latest trip, falling 0-3 (23-30, 25-30, 22-30) March 11, 2005 and 1-3 (30-23, 27-30, 21-30, 25-30) March 12, 2005 . . . Both of BSU’s wins came on neutral courts, with a 3-0 (15-8, 15-8, 15-12) win Feb. 9, 1991 and a 3-1 (15-6, 10-15, 15-13, 15-8) victory May 6, 1995 in the third-place match of the 1995 NCAA Tournament.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions hold a 54-20 advantage in the all-time series versus Ball State, including wins in the last three meetings . . . Last season, BSU suffered a pair of losses to Penn State, falling 0-3 (28-30, 22-30, 22-30) Jan. 12 at home and 0-3 (19-30, 25-30, 22-30) Feb. 16 on the road . . . Ball State’s last win in the series was a 3-0 (32-30, 30-28, 30-28) victory Jan. 14, 2006 at Penn State . . . The Nittany Lions hold a 20-13 edge in neutral court meetings between the two teams.

BALL STATE PICKS UP VOTES IN PRESEASON POLL: The Ball State men’s volleyball team picked up 16 points in the 2008 CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men’s Top 15 Coaches Preseason Poll . . . BYU was the No. 1 team in the poll, earning 220 points and four first-place votes . . . Loyola took the final spot in the Top 15, picking up 30 points . . . This week’s opponents were ranked as follows: No. 3 UCLA (214 points, 2 first-place votes), No. 4 Penn State (197 points) and No. 11 Hawaii (72 points).

ALL-MIVA PRESEASON TEAM: A pair of Cardinals earned recognition on the 2008 MIVA All-Conference Preseason Team as voted on by the league’s seven head coaches . . . Senior libero Ian Peckler was selected to the squad for the second straight season, while junior middle attacker Matt McCarthy was a first-time honoree.

MORE ON PECKLER: Senior Ian Peckler, an AVCA and Volleyball Magazine All-America Second Team selection last season, led the league and ranked sixth in the nation with a 2.65 digs-per-game average in 2007 . . . The 6-3 libero played in all 30 matches for the Cardinals last season and in 104 of a possible 109 games . . . An All-MIVA Second Team selection, Peckler’s 276 digs last season ranked second among all NCAA Division I-II players . . . Peckler enters the 2008 season with 750 career digs and needs just 297 to become Ball State’s all-time career leader in the category.

MORE ON MCCARTHY: Junior Matt McCarthy, an All-MIVA Second Team selection in 2007, ranked ninth among all NCAA Division I-II players with a .448 attack percentage last season - - the second-best hitting mark in BSU annals . . . BSUs’ top returning scorer from a year ago, McCarthy started 29 matches last season, scoring 225 kills and 104 total blocks.

KEEPING THE FAMILY TRADITION ALIVE: For the fifth-straight year, there will be a Meyer in the Ball State lineup, as Lee Meyer enters his freshman season with the Cardinals . . . Lee is the younger brother of four-year letterwinner Nick Meyer (2004-07) who graduated after last season as BSU’s rally-scoring era record holder for kills (1,415), kills-per-game average (3.83), attempts (3,175) and aces . . . The younger Meyer was named the Ohio Player of the Year for 2007 after guiding his Moeller High School team to the 2007 State Championship and a perfect 29-0 record.

KEEPING THE TEAM TOGETHER: The 2008 Ball State roster features three sets of high school teammates . . . Senior Patrick Durbin and junior Todd Chamberlain each played at Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky. . . . Sophomores Ethan Pheister and Eric Schulte each played at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wis . . . Freshmen Lee Meyer and James Emming each played at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.