Ball State University Athletics
No. 14 Men's Volleyball Closes the Regular Season Saturday vs. No. 10 Penn State
April 12, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
The Cardinals enter the week with a 20-5 overall record and finished its 2006 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association slate with an 8-4 mark to place third overall in the league. The Cardinals open the 2006 MIVA Tournament as the third seed with a home quarterfinal match Saturday, April 22 vs. No. 6 seed Mercyhurst. Loyola, the MIVA Regular Season Champion, will host the remainder of the tournament April 27 & 29.
Last week, the Cardinals secured the No. 3 seed in the MIVA tournament with a pair of league road wins. BSU opened play Friday with a dominating 3-0 (30-21, 31-29, 30-22) upset of then-No. 14 Ohio State at St. John's Arena. Ball State followed with a 3-0 (30-25, 30-20, 30-23) victory at Mercyhurst Saturday.
With the pair of wins last weekend, BSU climbed back into the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, earning the No. 14 spot. The Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 8 earlier in the year.
Penn State enters the week with a 17-7 overall record and are ranked 10th in the latest coaches poll. The record includes a 3-0 (32-30, 30-28, 30-28) Ball State victory in the second match of the season for both teams. Last week, PSU picked up a 3-2 (30-24, 30-21, 28-30, 34-36, 15-12) victory at Ohio State and a 3-0 (30-28, 30-24, 30-22) home win over Lewis.
Despite the win earlier in the year, the Nittany Lions maintain a 51-20 advantage in the all-time series. BSU is 3-7 in the last 10 meetings, including a 1-3 record at Worthen Arena. Overall, Ball State is 5-13 vs. Penn State in matches played in Muncie.
As a team, the Cardinals remain the best defensive team in the MIVA statistically, topping the league in opponents hitting percentage (.172) and digs (11.95), while ranking second in blocks (2.99). Offensively, the Cardinals hold the No. 1 spot in service aces (1.83) and are second in kills (15.40), assists (14.21) and hitting percentage (.290).
Individually, Ian Peckler continues to pace the league in digs per game at 2.94, while Nick Meyer ranks second in the MIVA in kills (4.53) and points (5.34) per game. Zoran Grabovac ranks fourth in blocks (1.35), while Dave Carlson is third in assists (12.62) and tied for fifth in aces (0.34) per game.
