Ball State University Athletics
No. 13 Men's Volleyball Hosts IPFW Saturday
April 21, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Ball State vs. IPFW Live Stats Link
Ball State vs. IPFW WCRD Live Audio Link (FREE)
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS IPFW IN MIVA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS: After finishing the regular season with a 7-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association record, the Cardinals earned the No. 4 seed in the 2010 MIVA Tournament and will host No. 5 seed IPFW (4-8 MIVA) Saturday night at Worthen Arena for a 7:30 p.m. first serve . . . The winner will advance to face No. 1 seed Ohio State (11-1 MIVA) next Wednesday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
ADMISSION FOR SATURDAY: Admission will be charged for Saturday's MIVA Tournament quarterfinal match versus IPFW . . . The adult ticket price will be $5 . . . Fans 18-and-under, as well as Ball State Students with a valid student ID, will be charged $3.
FOLLOW THE ACTION WITH WCRD: WCRD 91.3 FM will follow the Cardinals for the entire 2010 MIVA Tournament, starting with Saturday's quarterfinal match versus IPFW . . . Fans can listen online for FREE at ballstatesports.com by clicking on the "Webcasts" button at the top of the page, or clicking the hyperlink in the weekly preview story . . . Free live stats will also be available for the match.
SETTING UP THE TOURNAMENT: With its win over Ball State last Friday, Ohio State earned the MIVA regular season championship with an 11-1 league mark, the No. 1 seed in the tournament and a quarterfinal round bye in the event . . . Loyola picked up the No. 2 seed with a 10-2 league record, followed by No. 3 Lewis (7-5 MIVA), No. 4 Ball State (7-5 MIVA), No. 5 IPFW (4-8 MIVA), No. 6 Quincy (2-10 MIVA) and No. 7 Grand Canyon (1-11 MIVA).
2010 MIVA Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals, April 24 (No. # indicates seed)
Match 1: No. 7 Grand Canyon at No. 2 Loyola-Chicago 7 p.m.
Match 2: No. 6 Quincy at No. 3 Lewis 7 p.m.
Match 3: No. 5 IPFW at No. 4 Ball State 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals, April 28
Match 4: Winner of Match 3 at No. 1 Ohio State 7 p.m.
Match 5: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2 (@ highest remaining seed)
Championship, May 1
Match 6: Match 4 Winner vs. Match 5 Winner (@ highest remaining seed)
WRAPPING UP THE REGULAR SEASON: The Ball State men's volleyball team finished the regular season with an 18-10 overall record, including a 7-5 mark in MIVA play . . . After suffering a 3-0 (30-26, 30-26, 30-19) setback at then-No. 11 Ohio State last Friday, the Cardinals rebounded with a senior day sweep, 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-28), of then-No. 13 Loyola Saturday . . . If the Cardinals can advance to the MIVA Tournament championship match for the third straight season, the team will collect its 33rd 20-win season in program history and seventh in the 12-year tenure of head coach Joel Walton.
IN THE POLLS: After three weeks at No. 15, the Cardinals moved up two spots in the latest AVCA Division I-II Mens Coaches Top 15 Poll, earning the No. 13 slot after beating then-No. 13 Loyola last Saturday . . . Ball State and UC San Diego are tied for 13th with both teams receiving 43 points in this week's ballot . . . 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.
IN THE TOURNAMENT: Ball State enters Saturday's MIVA Tournament quarterfinal match versus IPFW with a 56-25 (.691) all-time mark in league tournament play . . . BSU is 14-1 in quarterfinal matches, 16-10 in semifinal action and 14-11 in championships matches . . . In addition, from 1964-1969, BSU was 12-3 in round robin play.
BALL STATE VS. IPFW: The Cardinals own a 63-25 lead in the all-time series versus IPFW, including victories in both meetings this season . . . Overall, Ball State has won the last six matches between the two programs and holds a 28-11 lead in matches played in Muncie . . . IPFW's last win in the series was a 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-20) sweep on April 7, 2007 in Fort Wayne.
BSU VS. IPFW IN MIVA TOURNAMENT PLAY: The Cardinals and Mastodons have met six times in MIVA Tournament play, with each school recording three wins . . . The teams have only played once in quarterfinal action, with Ball State scoring a 3-0 (30-23, 30-22, 30-15) victory in 2001 . . . The last time teams squared off in tournament play was in 2006, when IPFW earned a 3-2 (26-30, 30-24, 30-28, 19-30, 15-13) semifinal victory on their way to the first of two-straight MIVA Tournament titles.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the MIVA Tournament with an 18-10 (7-5 MIVA) record after splitting a pair of league matches last weekend . . . BSU was swept at then-No. 11 Ohio State last Friday, before sweeping then-No. 13 Loyola the following night at Worthen Arena . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 2.98 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .402 (239-63-438) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 263 kills for a 2.77 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Gasparovic leads the team with a 1.42 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .234 rate of success this season, while adding 1.60 digs, 0.33 aces and 0.72 blocks per game . . . Six-time MIVA Defensive Player of the Week Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.05 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS: Coached by Ball State alumnus Arnie Ball (1967 & 71), the Mastodons enter the MIVA Tournament with a 12-16 (4-8 MIVA) record after posting a pair of wins at Quincy last weekend . . . IPFW earned a 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-24) victory Friday and a 3-1 (30-20, 30-27, 24-30, 30-26) win Saturday . . . Darryl Shank paces the IPFW attack with a 4.72 kills-per-game average, while Oliver Kook leads the Mastodon's offense with a .346 (260-81-518) attack percentage . . . At the net, Corey Frain owns a team-best 1.25 blocks-per-game average . . . Dan Mader has set the IPFW offense to a .239 rate of success this season, while adding 1.42 digs per game . . . Shaun Dryden is IPFW's top defender with a 2.74 digs-per-game average.
BREAKING DOWN THE FIRST TWO MEETINGS THIS SEASON: Ball State opened the season series versus IPFW with a 3-2 (28-30, 30-32, 30-22, 30-20, 15-6) come-from-behind win at Worthen Arena Feb. 25, before scoring a 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-24) road sweep April 3 . . . During the two matches, J.D. Gasparovic has been the Cardinals main weapon averaging 3.25 kills and 2.38 blocks per game . . . Anders Nelson has also had a solid showing versus the Mastodons, averaging 2.25 kills and 1.38 blocks per game . . . As a team, Ball State is hitting .254 versus IPFW while averaging 4.38 blocks per game . . . Darryl Shank and Elon Fyfield are averaging 3.57 and 3.50 kills per game, respectively, for IPFW in the two matches . . . The Cardinals have limited IPFW to a .104 hitting mark in the two matches.
SIX AND COUNTING: After helping guide the Cardinals to a 1-1 record last week, senior libero Billy Ebel was named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week for the third straight week and sixth time this season . . . In BSU's two matches last week, Ebel racked up a team-high 20 digs for a 3.33 digs-per-game average . . . In addition, he posted a .966 (28 for 29) reception percentage in the two matches . . . This is the first year for the league's weekly defensive award, and Ebel leads all league players with six 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 314 digs so far this season, which is the highest total for a BSU player in the rally scoring era . . . Ebel passed Ian Peckler's (2005-08) total of 304 digs in 2008 for the Ball State rally scoring record with his match-high 13 digs in Saturday's win over then-No. 13 Loyola . . . 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 16 matches this season, which ties him with Chris Beerman (1987-1990) for the third-best single-season total in program history . . . In addition, Ebel's 666 career digs rank 12th in program history . . . Ebel needs just 19 more digs to pass Keith Schunzel's (2001-04) career total of 684 for 10th on BSU's all-time list . . . Ebel's 31 career matches with double-figure digs currently ties Chris Cooper's (1987-90) total for third on BSU's all-time chart.
WHAT A GAME: The Ball State offense connected for a .731 (21-3-26) rate of success in its 30-25 opening game victory over then-No. 13 Loyola last Saturday (April 17) at Worthen Arena . . . The effort was the best for the Cardinals in a single game since Feb. 28, 2006 when BSU hit for a .789 (16-1-19) mark versus Central State in a 30-7 opening-game victory at Worthen Arena . . . Earlier that year, BSU posted a .882 (15-0-17) hitting mark in a 30-6 third-game victory over the same Central State club in a Feb. 7, 2006 road match.
SERVING UP 100: Senior setter Ethan Pheister started the April 10 sweep of Saint Francis with a bang, recording his 100th career ace to open the match . . . With the ace, Pheister became 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 currently has 102 career aces.
PHEISTER TOPS 4,000: With his 50 assists in last Saturday's senior night sweep of Loyola, Ethan Pheister became just the fourth setter in program history to record over 4,000 career assists, raising his career total to 4,020 . . . One week earlier, Pheister scored a three-game BSU rally scoring record 54 assists in the April 10 sweep of Saint Francis.
SCHULTE COMES UP BIG: Senior right side attacker Eric Schulte had arguably the best weekend of his career racking up a 4.50 kills-per-game average and a .380 (27-8-50) hitting percentage in the Cardinals two matches last weekend . . . In Friday's match at Ohio State, Schulte led the Ball State offense with 12 kills and a .450 (12-3-20) attack percentage . . . He followed that effort with a match and career-high tying 15 kills and a .333 (15-5-30) attack percentage in Saturday's sweep of Loyola . . . In addition to his solid attacking numbers, Schulte added seven total blocks for a 1.17 blocks-per-game average . . . Over his career, Schulte has averaged 2.08 kills and 0.58 blocks per game while hitting .159.
THE GREAT WALL OF GASPAROVIC: After collecting a team-leading 16 blocks (two solo & 14 assists) last week, junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic upped his career block total to an even 400 to became just the 11th player in program history to record 400 career blocks . . . His 351 career block assists currently rank seventh in BSU annals, as does his 1.40 career blocks-per-game average.
MORE OFF THE BLOCK: J.D. Gasparovic's 145 total blocks and 121 block assists this season are BSU single-season rally scoring era record, while his 24 solo blocks rank second on the list . . . In addition, Gasparovic's 400 career total blocks and 351 career block assists are also BSU rally scoring era career records, while his 49 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 .199 attack percentage . . . In the April 9 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 (10.81) and second in blocks per game (3.18).
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Ball State enters the week ranked fifth in the nation with a 3.18 blocks-per-game average . . . J.D. Gasparovic leads the team and ranks eighth nationally with a 1.42 blocks-per-game average, while Anders Nelson is 17th in the country at 1.26 . . . In the backcourt, the Cardinals' 10.81 digs-per-game average ranks 10th nationally, with Billy Ebel holding the No. 7 slot individually with his 3.05 average . . . On offense, Gasparovic ranks 12th in the nation with a .402 attack percentage, while Nelson is 21st at .367 . . . Ethan Pheister enters the week ranked 18th in the nation in assists (11.73) and 26th in aces (0.33) per game.
