Men’s Volleyball Travels East to Take on Harvard and Sacred Heart

Game One
Ball State at Harvard
Friday, Jan. 20 (7 p.m.)
Cambridge, Mass.
Live Stats: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mvball/2016-17/boxscores/20170120_4uyc.xml
Live Video: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/harvard/game/ball-state9-at-harvard-on-01202017-vbm

Game Two
Ball State at Sacred Heart
Saturday, Jan. 21 (7 p.m.)
Fairfield, Conn.
Live Stats: http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-volley/2016-17/boxscores/20170121_ii62.xml

MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 13 Ball State men's volleyball team will be in action this weekend as they travel to Harvard and Sacred Heart. The Cardinals will take on Harvard Friday, Jan. 20 then turn around to face Sacred Heart on Saturday, Jan. 21. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.

Last year's meetings:

In the 2016 season, Ball State defeated the Crimson, 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23). Brendan Surane had an impressive 20 kills, three block assists, one solo block and one ace in the Cardinal victory. Mitch Weiler and Matt Walsh both had two aces on the night. Weiler tallied 10 kills while Walsh added nine.

Last year, the Pioneers traveled to Muncie and were defeated by the Cardinals, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22). Surane led the way in that contest with 13 kills, one ace and three block assists. Walsh also put up a big performance with six kills, five block assists and two aces.

Cardinals to watch:

Going into this weekend's matches, freshman Matt Szews leads the team with 68 kills. Surane is right behind with 51 kills while Weiler has knocked down 36.

Defensively, freshman libero Nick Lavanchy leads the way with 44 digs. Senior Connor Gross, this week's MIVA Defensive Player of the Week, has recorded 37 digs this season.

Walsh has tallied 23 total blocks (four solo blocks) through five matches. Six other Cardinals have knocked down double digit blocks: Gross (14), Szews (13), Weiler (13) Alex Pia (11), Surane (11) and Anthony Lebryk (10).

In the record books:

Surane is currently 18^th in school history (during rally scoring) in kills with 545. He is eight kills away from passing Kevin Owens. Surane is also tied for 17^th (during rally scoring) in solo blocks with 24. Walsh is right behind him with 23 career solo blocks.

In addition to his place in the record books for solo blocks, Walsh is sixth (during rally scoring) in blocks per set in a career with 1.25. Pia is also in the top ten in this statistic, sitting at ninth with 1.05. Both Walsh and Pia are also in the record books in total career blocks (during rally scoring). Walsh sits at 11^th with 269 blocks through 215 sets while Pia is 20^th with 171 through 163 sets.

Gross sits at ninth (during rally scoring) in career assists with 409 through 54 sets. He is 11 away from moving into eighth place, passing Evan Berg (420 through 393 sets).

For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's volleyball team, please follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB.

Men’s Volleyball Travels East to Take on Harvard and Sacred Heart

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Connor Gross

Nick LaVanchy

Anthony Lebryk

Alex Pia

Brendan Surane

Matt Szews

Matt Walsh

Mitch Weiler