Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Travels To No. 11 Ohio State Tonight
April 16, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
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MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ENDS REGULAR SEASON THIS WEEKEND: The No. 15 Ball State men's volleyball team ends the 2010 regular season this weekend with a Friday match at No. 11 Ohio State (7 p.m.) and a Saturday home showdown versus No. 13 Loyola (7:30 p.m.) . . . Saturday's match versus the Ramblers will also serve as senior night for Ball State's Billy Ebel, Ethan Pheister, Eric Schulte and Matt Sprague.
FOLLOW THE ACTION WITH WCRD: WCRD 91.3 FM will broadcast both of Ball State's matches this week . . . Fans can listen online for FREE at ballstatesports.com by clicking on the "Webcasts" button at the top of the page, or clicking the hyperlinks in the weekly preview story . . . Free live stats will also be available for both matches, while Ohio State's Buckeye Vision will offer live video for Friday's match for a $9.95 charge.
SETTING UP THE TOURNAMENT: With two conference matches remaining for Ball State (6-4 MIVA), the Cardinals hold a match lead over Lewis (5-5 MIVA) for the No. 3 seed in the MIVA Tournament . . . The Flyers hold the tiebreaker for the No. 3 seed based on point differential in the two matches played after each team posted five-game road wins . . . BSU travels to Ohio State Friday and host Loyola Saturday, while Lewis hosts a two-match set versus Grand Canyon this weekend.
HOW BALL STATE CAN SECURE THE NO. 3 SEED
If Ball State wins both matches (8-4 MIVA), the Cardinals will be the No. 3 seed as the best Lewis can finish is 7-5 MIVA
* If Ball State splits (7-5 MIVA)
- BSU No. 3 seed if Lewis splits (6-6 MIVA) or Lewis loses both (5-7 MIVA)
- BSU No. 4 seed if Lewis sweeps (7-5 MIVA), as Lewis wins tiebreaker
* If Ball State loses both matches (6-6 MIVA)
- BSU No. 3 seed if Lewis loses both matches (5-7 MIVA)
- BSU No. 4 if Lewis splits (6-6 MIVA), as Lewis wins tiebreaker
- BSU No. 4 if Lewis sweeps (7-5 MIVA)
MORE SEEDING SCENARIOS: Ohio State (10-1 MIVA) and Loyola (10-1 MIVA) have locked up the top two seeds for the 2010 MIVA Tournament, with each team playing the Cardinals this week to determine the No. 1 overall seed . . . The Buckeyes hold the tiebreaker with a 5-3 advantage in games won in the two matches between the teams . . . IPFW (2-8 MIVA) and Quincy (2-8 MIVA) are currently tied for the No. 5 & 6 seeds and will play each other this weekend to help sort out the spots . . . However, Grand Canyon (1-9 MIVA) still has a chance to move up from the No. 7 seed, with a pair of matches at Lewis . . . Grand Canyon split with Quincy and holds the tiebreaker between the two clubs with a 5-4 edge in games won in the two matches between the teams . . . IPFW swept the season series versus Grand Canyon to win the tiebreaker with the Antelopes.
IN THE POLLS: For the third straight week, the Ball State men's volleyball team remains 15th in the latest AVCA Division I-II Mens Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . The Cardinals started the season ranked 11th (preseason) and fell to 13th on Jan. 11, before dropping out for 10 weeks . . . The Cardinals re-entered the rankings March 29 after scoring a 3-0 sweep of then-No. 3 Cal State Northridge March 27 . . . BSU did receive votes in seven of the 10 polls it was not ranked.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 17-9 (6-4 MIVA) record after going 3-0 last week . . . BSU earned a 3-2 (30-24, 31-29, 28-30, 23-30, 15-13) win at Lewis, before scoring home sweeps of King College (30-15, 30-24, 30-19) and Saint Francis (35-33, 33-31, 30-25) . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.03 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .395 (220-60-405) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 251 kills for a 2.82 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Gasparovic leads the team with a 1.34 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .232 rate of success this season, while adding 1.60 digs, 0.34 aces and 0.69 blocks per game . . . Five-time MIVA Defensive Player of the Week Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.03 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes enter the week with an 18-7 (10-1 MIVA) overall record after scoring league sweeps of then-No. 11 Loyola (30-26, 32-30, 30-24) and Lewis (32-30, 30-25, 30-21) last weekend . . . With a win over the Cardinals Friday, Ohio State secures the No. 1 seed in the 2010 MIVA Tournament and a first-round bye in the event . . . The Buckeyes are also ranked 11th in the nation in the latest AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Shawn Sangrey paces the OSU attack with a 4.56 kills-per-game average, while Kevin Heine leads the Buckeyes offense with a .469 (153-30-262) attack percentage . . . At the net, Grayson Overman paces OSU's regulars with a 1.30 blocks-per-game average . . . Steven Kehoe has set the Ohio State offense to a .303 rate of success this season, while adding 1.84 digs and 0.79 blocks per game . . . Mik Berzins holds down the OSU backcourt with a 2.53 digs-per-game average.
BALL STATE VS. THE BUCKEYES: The Cardinals hold a 96-84-1 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio State, despite losses in 13 of the last 16 meetings . . . Earlier this season, the Buckeyes scored a 3-0 (30-28, 34-32, 30-23) sweep of the Cardinals at Worthen Arena Feb. 5 . . . Ball State's last win in the series was a 3-1 (26-30, 30-28, 32-30, 31-29) home win Feb. 15, 2008, while its last win at St. John Arena was a 3-0 (30-21, 31-29, 30-22) victory April 7, 2006 . . . The Cardinals are 31-44 all-time in matches played in Columbus, Ohio.
SCOUTING LOYOLA: The Ramblers enter the week with an 18-4 (10-1 MIVA) overall record after suffering a 0-3 (26-30, 30-32, 24-30) setback at then-No. 13 Ohio State last Friday . . . With a win over Ball State Saturday and a BSU victory at Ohio State Friday, Loyola secures the No. 1 seed in the 2010 MIVA Tournament and a first-round bye in the event . . . The Ramblers are also ranked 13th in the nation in the latest AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Mike Bunting paces the Loyola attack with a 4.10 kills-per-game average, while Mike Morice leads the Ramblers offense with a .419 (120-29-217) attack percentage . . . At the net, Matt Adler paces the team with a 1.41 blocks-per-game average . . . Mike Hutz has set the Loyola offense to a .320 rate of success this season, while adding 2.08 digs and 0.85 blocks per game . . . Tommy Becker holds down the Loyola backcourt with a 2.24 digs-per-game average.
BALL STATE VS. THE RAMBLERS: Loyola holds a slim 18-17 advantage in the all-time series versus the Cardinals after earning a 3-0 (30-28, 31-29, 30-25) victory Jan. 15 in the first meeting between the two teams this season . . . Overall, Loyola has won seven of the last 10 matches between the programs . . . Ball State's last win in the series was a 3-2 (29-31, 30-27, 30-25, 23-30, 15-7) home win Feb. 28, 2009 . . . BSU is 13-3 all-time versus Loyola in Worthen Arena, including two straight wins.
FIVE AND COUNTING: After helping guide the Cardinals to a 3-0 record last week, senior libero Billy Ebel was named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time this season . . . In BSU's three matches last week, Ebel racked up a team-high 30 digs for a 2.73 digs-per-game average . . . He also posted a .977 reception percentage, passing 86 of his team-high 88 reception attempts . . . This is the first year for the league's weekly defensive award, and Ebel leads all league players with five selections . . . IPFW's Shaun Dryden and Ohio State's Mik Berzins are tied for second with two awards each.
MORE FROM THE BACK ROW: Billy Ebel enters the week with 294 digs so far this season, which is the second-highest total for a BSU player in the rally scoring era . . . Ian Peckler (2005-08) holds the Ball State rally scoring record for digs in a season at 304 in 2008 . . . Brian Hyde (1981-84) holds the all-time single-season digs record with 372 in 1984.
EBEL CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Billy Ebel enters the week with double-figure digs in 15 matches this season, which ties his mark set last year for the fourth-best single-season total program history . . . In addition, Ebel's 646 career digs rank 14th in program history . . . With at least three matches remaining in the 2010 season, Ebel is on track to break into the top 10 in program history, needing just 39 more digs to pass Keith Schunzel's (2001-04) career total of 684 for 10th on BSU's all-time list . . . Ebel's 30 career matches with double-figure digs currently ranks fourth in program history, trailing Chris Cooper's (1987-90) total of 31 for third on the chart.
OFFENSE CONTINUES TO ROLL: Ball State's offense continued to roll last week, with above .300 hitting marks in two of its three victories . . . The Cardinals hit a season-high .356 (45-14-87) in the win over King College (April 9), while posting a .339 (61-21-118) rate of success the following night versus Saint Francis (April 10) . . . BSU has hit above .300 in five of its last nine matches, after failing to break the mark in its first 17 matches.
SERVING UP 100: Senior setter Ethan Pheister started Saturday's sweep of Saint Francis with a bang, recording his 100th career ace to open the match . . . Pheister served up another ace early in the third game to raise his career total to 101 entering the week . . . Pheister is just the eighth player in program history to record 100-or-more aces and only the second player in the rally scoring era to accomplish the task, joining Nick Meyer (2004-07) who blasted 111 aces over his career.
PHEISTER CLIMBS TO FOURTH: With 59 assists in last Tuesday's win at Lewis, senior setter Ethan Pheister climbed to fourth in program history on BSU's career assist chart . . . Pheister added a three-game BSU rally scoring record 54 assists last Saturday versus Saint Francis, while handing out 25 one night earlier versus King College to raise his career total to 3,943.
ANDERS SCORES BIG: Despite playing in just two of BSU's three matches, junior middle attacker Anders Nelson paced the Cardinals with 29 total kills last week . . . In the win at Lewis (April 6), Nelson blasted a career-high 18 kills and followed with 11 more markers in the victory over Saint Francis (April 10) . . . Nelson has recorded double-figure kills in eight matches this season and 12 times over his career.
WRATHER PACKS A PUNCH: Freshman outside attacker Larry Wrather has found a home in the BSU starting lineup over the last 10 matches . . . Since getting the start at No. 2 Pepperdine (March 11), Wrather has collected a team-high 88 kills and a 2.84 kills-per-game average . . . He has led the team in kills three times, while recording his first career double-double at George Mason (March 19) . . . The shortest active player on the BSU roster, Wrather added a career-high 19 kills in the April 1 showdown versus No. 9 Penn State.
THE GREAT WALL OF GASPAROVIC: After collecting a team-leading 12 block assists last week, junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic climbed to seventh in BSU annals with 337 career block assists . . . In addition, his 384 total blocks rank 12th in program history, while his 1.37 blocks-per-game average is seventh . . . Gasparovic's 337 block assists and 384 total blocks are also BSU rally scoring era career records, while his 47 career solo blocks rank third on Ball State's rally scoring chart.
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE: As a team, the Cardinals enter the week ranked first in the league by limiting its opponents to a .193 attack percentage . . . In last Friday's win over King College, BSU limited the Tornado attack to a -.022 (28-30-92) rate of success, which is a season-low for a Ball State opponent . . . Overall, the Cardinals have limited their opponents to below .200 hitting marks in 14 matches this season . . . The Cardinals also rank first in the MIVA in digs per game (11.00) and second in blocks per game (3.09).
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Ball State enters the week ranked seventh in the nation with a 3.09 blocks-per-game average . . . J.D. Gasparovic leads the team and ranks 12th nationally with a 1.34 blocks-per-game average, while Anders Nelson is 16th in the country at 1.26 . . . In the backcourt, the Cardinals 11.00 digs-per-game average ranks ninth nationally, with Billy Ebel holding the No. 7 slot individually with his 3.03 average . . . On offense, Gasparovic ranks 14th in the nation with a .395 attack percentage, while Nelson is 23rd at 3.58.
BALL STATE ON THE RADIO: WCRD 91.3 FM will once again be the radio home for the Cardinals during the 2010 season . . . The station is slated to cover all 13 home matches this season, as well as select road contests, including Friday's match at No. 11 Ohio State . . . James Rider will cover the play-by-play action, while Nick Golden provides the color commentary . . . The station also serves as the home for "The Ball State Men's Volleyball Show", a weekly BSU men's volleyball report which airs Mondays from 7-8 p.m. . . . All WCRD broadcasts will be streamed live and FREE of charge at ballstatesports.com.
