Ball State University Athletics
No. 12 Men's Volleyball To Face No. 8 Loyola, No. 14 Lewis
February 16, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The No. 12 Ball State (9-3, 3-0 MIVA) men's volleyball team will continue action in a six-match home stand in Worthen Arena as it welcomes Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opponents No. 8 Loyola (8-3, 3-1 MIVA) on Feb. 17, followed by No. 14 Lewis (9-5, 4-2 MIVA) Feb. 18. The Loyola match was previously scheduled for Feb. 19 and was rescheduled for Feb. 17, while the team will hold a poster signing session after Thursday's matchup with Lewis.
Last weekend, the Cardinals continued to roll on its hot streak by making earning a pair of sweeps over in-state rival IPFW, as well as non-conference opponent Barton in 3-0 victories. Ball State first extended its match win streak to five in a row on Thursday evening when it downed IPFW (4-7, 0-3 MIVA) with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-18) final in Worthen Arena.
Junior Alex Pia stood out when he opened the second set with back-to-back unassisted kills, helping Ball State trigger a 11-3 run against the Mastodons to open the set. The third set was all Ball State's control, with no lead changes or tie scores, despite posting narrow finals in the first two sets. The Cardinals marked a solid .400 team attack percentage in the third game to close out the match.
Overall, junior Mike Scannell topped the Ball State box score with 10 kills on the night, followed by sophomore Mitch Weiler who downed eight attacks. Freshman Parker Swartz topped the team with a perfect attack percentage on two kills in addition to earning the lone Ball State ace.
Defensively, freshman libero Adam Wessel took on 13 digs, while Pia led the Cardinals blocking game with six block assists. Scannell got in on the action at the net by tallying one solo block, paired with three block assists, helping the Cardinals earn 9.5 total team blocks on the night.
The Cardinals went on to sweep Barton (6-3, 4-2 CC) Friday evening in Worthen arena in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) final. The victory stretched Ball State's win streak to six. For the second night in a row, Scannell topped the Ball State box score with 12 kills, on a .429 attack percentage. Scannell was well rounded in the Cardinals second consecutive sweep, as he also earned two of Ball State's five service aces, five block assists and one dig.
Other offensive standouts included junior Brendan Surane, who notched six kills, as well as Weiler who marked a .308 attack percentage leading to six kills. Other Ball State aces came at critical times throughout the matchup from senior setter Hiago Garchet and sophomore Matt Walsh, as well as Swartz' to open the third set to send Ball State on a four point streak.
Defensively, Pia was dynamic at the net, pairing up to earn six block assists, while Garchet and Surane each earned solo blocks, leading to a Ball State team block total of 13.0 in the sweep. Pia now leads the team with 51 total blocks this season, and a 1.11 blocks per set average.
Nationally, Ball State improved this week from a 13th-ranking to No. 12, the highest of the season thus far, and is also ranked fifth overall in blocks per set with 2.73. In conference action, Ball State is the lone team to remain undefeated, as the Cardinals are currently 3-0 in MIVA play.
Individually, Pia earned MIVA Defensive Player of the Week honors this week after posting 12 total blocks in the pair of Ball State wins. Weiler sits in fifth in the conference in total digs with 71, while Wessel holds a 2.19 digs per set average, placing him fifth overall in the MIVA as well.
SCOUTING No. 8 LOYOLA: Two-time defending national champion Loyola is currently 8-3 on the season, including 3-1 in MIVA conference play. Ohio State handed the Ramblers its lone conference loss of the season in a 3-0 sweep on Feb. 12, while the other losses came in season opening weekend to UC Santa Barbara and BYU in 3-1 finals. While just three seniors remain on the Loyola squad, seven new freshmen join the team, hoping to fill the loss of two All-Americans from the 2015 season. Loyola holds the 28-19 advantage over Ball State, going 11-1 over the last five years. The Ramblers have only given the Cardinals a total of 12 winning sets and one match victory in the last five years, with the winning match taking place at home on April 17, 2010. Mark Hulse, a native of Evanston, Ill., begins his first season as the head coach of the Loyola men's volleyball program after serving as an assistant coach for the last four years.
SCOUTING No. 14 LEWIS: Most recently, Lewis was swept by MIVA foe Ohio State in a 3-0 final on Feb. 13 at home in Neil Carey Arena. Currently 9-5 overall and 4-2 in MIVA play, Lewis standouts include Julian Moses, who posts 106 kills, as well as Bobby Walsh, who holds 103 Kills. Bobby Walsh also has a total of 47 blocks this season, leads the conference with a .545 hitting percentage and is the older brother of Ball State sophomore Matt Walsh. The Flyers team leader in blocks is Jacob Schmiegelt with 53 total blocks, as well as nine aces. Relatively young, the Lewis squad only has two true seniors, two redshirt seniors, as well as five redshirt freshman and six true freshmen. Leading the Flyers in his 12th season is Dan Friend, while associate head coach Matt McCarthy was a four-year letter winner for Ball State from 2006-09. He still ranks 4th in program history with a .413 career attack percentage. Ball State is just shy of Lewis in the all-time series advantage at 25-26, which includes just two home and one road win in the last five years.
Live stats and broadcast will be available for fans unable to attend the matchups at:
Live Stats: http://www.ballstatesports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14200&LIST_SPORT__VOLLEYBALL
Live Broadcast: http://www.ballstatesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=7635&DB_OEM_ID=14200&db_oem_id=14200
Looking ahead, the Ball State men's volleyball team will round out action in its six-match home stand in Worthen Arena by welcoming in MIVA rivals Quincy on Feb. 25, followed by Lindenwood on Feb. 26.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
