Ball State University Athletics
No. 14 Men's Volleyball Faces No. 10 IPFW in MIVA Tournament Semifinals Thursday
April 25, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
2006 MIVA Tournament Semifinal/Championship Notes in PDF Format
THIS WEEK IN VOLLEYBALL ACTION: The No. 14 Ball State men's volleyball team continues its march toward the NCAA Tournament Thursday afternoon with a 5 p.m. CT Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament Semifinal match vs. No. 10 IPFW . . . The winner of the contest will advance to Saturday's 4 p.m. CT championship match to face the winner of No. 8 Loyola vs. No. 15 Ohio State . . . The championship match will be broadcast live on CSTV . . . Loyola, the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, is the host for the semifinals and finals . . . IPFW is the No. 2 seed, while Ball State is No. 3 and Ohio State is No. 4.
LAST TIME OUT: Ball State advanced to the semifinals with a dominating 3-0 (30-25, 30-23, 30-21) quarterfinal victory over No. 6 seed Mercyhurst last Saturday at Worthen Arena . . . In the victory, Nick Meyer paced the Cardinals with 10 kills despite playing in just two games . . . Dave Carlson posted his fourth double-double of the season dishing out a match-high 43 assists, while scoring a match-best 11 digs . . . In all, 13 different Cardinals saw action in the match, with nine players scoring at least two kills.
IN THE AVCA RANKINGS: Ball State enters the MIVA Tournament Semifinals ranked 14th for the third-straight week in the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . The Cardinals had attained a No. 8 ranking in the Feb. 13 poll for the team's highest ranking since March 9, 2004.
BSU IN THE MIVA TOURNAMENT: Ball State enters Thursday's match vs. IPFW with a 50-21 (.704) all-time tournament record - - including last Saturday's quarterfinal win over Mercyhurst . . . The Cardinals have won a league-best 14 tournament titles, while posting a 10-1 quarterfinal record, a 14-8 semifinal record and a 14-9 championship match record . . . BSU was also 12-3 in round robin matches from 1964 to 1969 . . . BSU's most recent MIVA Tournament Championship came in 2002 - - which is also the last time Penn State hosted the NCAA Tournament.
MIVA TOURNAMENT ON WCRD RADIO: Ball State's student radio station WCRD 91.3 FM will carry all of BSU's MIVA Tournament matches live on air and over the web . . . Shane Wilkinson will provide the play-by-play action, while Zach Steinke will add the color commentary . . . To listen to the webcast, visit www.WCRD.net and click on the "Listen Now" button at the top of the page.
BSU VERSUS IPFW IN 2006: The Cardinals suffered a pair of losses to the Mastodons during the 2006 regular season . . . IPFW posted a 3-1 (30-20, 35-33, 28-30, 30-24) victory in Fort Wayne Feb. 17 to hand BSU its first loss of the season, before claiming a 3-1 (30-20, 30-26, 27-30, 30-25) victory at Worthen Arena March 18 . . . In the two matches, Nick Meyer paced the Cardinals averaging 4.62 kills per game . . . Evan Berg led the BSU back-court, collecting 3.12 digs per game, while Zoran Grabovac tallied 1.33 blocks per game . . . Dave Carlson added 13.62 assists-per-game. (COMPLETE STATS/BOX SCORES FOUND LATER IN NOTES)
BSU ALL-TIME VERSUS IPFW: Despite the two losses earlier in the year, BSU maintains a 56-23 advantage in the all-time series vs. IPFW, including a 3-2 record in MIVA Tournament action . . . The Cardinals and Mastodons have only played once in the MIVA Tournament Semifinals, with IPFW scoring a 3-1 (12-15, 15-6, 15-7, 15-7) victory April 23, 1993.
BSU VERSUS LOYOLA IN 2006: The Cardinals split a pair of regular season-matches with the Ramblers in 2006 . . . BSU won the first contest 3-0 (30-14, 30-24, 30-24) at Worthen Arena Feb. 10 in the battle of the only undefeated Division I teams . . . Loyola rebounded with a 3-1 (30-27, 31-29, 28-30, 30-19) victory in Chicago March 24 . . . In the two matches, Nick Meyer paced the Cardinals averaging 4.71 kills-per-game . . . Meyer also tied Dave Carlson for team-high honors with 2.57 digs per game . . . Carlson also paced the team with a 10.71 assists-per-game average, while Zoran Grabovac paced the block averaging 1.57 blocks per game. (COMPLETE STATS/BOX SCORES FOUND LATER IN NOTES)
BSU ALL-TIME VERSUS LOYOLA: After the regular season split, the Cardinals maintain a slim 16-15 edge in the all-time series, including a 4-2 record in MIVA Tournament action . . . BSU and Loyola have only played once in the MIVA Tournament Finals - - where they would have to meet this season - - with Ball State scoring a 3-0 (30-17, 30-27, 30-19) victory April 27, 2002.
BSU VERSUS OHIO STATE IN 2006: BSU and OSU split a pair of regular season matches, with each team winning on the road . . . The Buckeyes scored the first victory - - 3-0 (31-29, 30-22, 30-28) - - Feb. 25, while the Cardinals won the rematch - - 3-0 (30-21, 31-29, 30-22) - - April 7 . . . In the two matches, Nick Meyer paced the Cardinals, averaging 4.67 kills per game . . . Evan Berg and Ian Peckler tied to lead the BSU back-court collecting 2.33 digs per game, while Matt McCarthy tallied a team-best 1.33 blocks per game . . . Dave Carlson added 13.50 assists per game. (COMPLETE STATS/BOX SCORES FOUND LATER IN NOTES)
BSU ALL-TIME VERSUS OHIO STATE: After the regular season split, the Cardinals maintain a 93-76-1 advantage in the all-time series, including a 15-13 record in MIVA Tournament action . . . The Cardinals and Buckeyes have played 13 times in the MIVA Tournament Finals - - where they would have to meet this season - - with BSU holding a 7-6 edge in those matches . . . While Ohio State has won the last four tournament meetings (all semifinal matches), BSU posted a 3-0 (15-5, 17-16, 15-9) victory in the most recent championship meeting April 22, 1995.
BREAKING DOWN THE RECORD: After jumping out to an 11-0 start, the Cardinals have posted a 10-6 record over the last 16 matches . . . Of the six losses, five came to nationally ranked opponents - - No. 12 Ohio State (Feb. 15), No. 15 George Mason (March 3), No. 13 IPFW (March 18), No. 10 Loyola (March 24) and No. 10 Penn State (April 15) - - with the only other loss coming to IPFW the week before the Mastodons broke into the top 15 . . . On the year, the Cardinals are 2-5 vs. ranked opponents - - including wins over No. 12 Loyola (Feb. 10) and No. 14 Ohio State (April 7) . . . BSU is also 19-2 in three-game matches, 1-3 in four-game tilts and 1-1 in five-game sets.
IN THE MIVA TEAM RANKINGS: BSU enters the MIVA Tournament Semifinals as the best defensive team in the MIVA statistically, topping the league in opponents hitting percentage (.180) and in digs (11.87), while ranking second in blocks (2.95) . . . Offensively, the Cardinals are first in service aces (1.85), second in kills (15.30), second in assists (14.18) and fourth in hitting percentage (.288).
IN THE MIVA INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS: Nick Meyer: 2nd points (5.44), 2nd kills (4.58), 4th aces (0.36), 9th digs (2.12), 11th blocks (0.91) and 16th hitting percentage (.296) . . . Patrick Durbin: 6th points (3.83), 7th kills (3.22), 16th digs (1.87) and 19th aces (0.19) . . . Matt McCarthy: 8th hitting percentage (.358), 8th blocks (1.12), 9th aces (0.29) and 18th points (2.95) . . . Dave Carlson: 3rd assists (12.55), 8th aces (0.30), 14th digs (1.92) and 19th blocks (0.78) . . . Doug Willmann: 3rd hitting percentage (.420) and 12th aces (0.27) . . . Zoran Grabovac: 5th blocks (1.30) and 14th hitting percentage (.303) . . . Ian Peckler: 1st digs (2.76) . . . Evan Berg: 8th digs (2.14).
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Nick Meyer enters the week ranked in the top 20 nationally in three categories . . . He is sixth in points (5.44), ninth in kills (4.58) and 12th in aces (.362) . . . Ian Peckler ranks fifth in digs per game (2.76), while Dave Carlson is 11th in assists (12.55) and 20th in aces (.303).
