Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball To Take On No. 1 Ohio State, McKendree
March 24, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 9 Ball State (17-5, 9-1 MIVA) men's volleyball team will welcome Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foes to Worthen Arena for the final two matches at home in the regular season. No. 1 Ohio State (18-3, 9-1 MIVA) will take the court against the Cardinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by McKendree (9-8, 4-6 MIVA) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26.
Friday's matchup with the top team in the nation will be aired on ESPN3, while Saturday will feature a special Senior Night recognition session, and the Cardinals will be holding a poster signing session after the conclusion of both events.
Last week, the Cardinals improved to 9-1 in conference play when it took down in-state rival IPFW in a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19) rebound victory, while Ball State continued to be successful by posting a 3-2 (25-23, 29-27, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12) final when it hosted No. 13 UC Irvine on Sunday afternoon.
In the first action of the week with the help of 13 kills by the hand of junior Brendan Surane, the Cardinals sealed a 3-1 rebound win over the Mastodons Wednesday night on the road. Sophomore Matt Walsh marked nine total blocks on the night, while the Cardinals continued to take advantage of its opponent's errors at the net. Ball State held to just 12 on the night, while the 'Dons suffered from 29 over the course of the four sets, including a match-high of nine in the third, compared to the Cardinals match-low of two in the same game.
Against the West Coast foe, Surane led the Cardinals with his season-high of 22 kills, while junior Alex Pia held down the defensive lines with a season-high of nine total blocks. Surane racked up a two-match total of 35 kills, earning him MIVA Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Nationally, Ball State improved to a No. 9 ranking, compared to last week's 10th overall placing. The Cardinals are also ranked third overall in blocks per set with 2.88, while Pia sits eighth in the nation with 1.20 blocks per set. In conference action, Ball State tied for first with Ohio State with a 9-1 record. Individually, Pia is second in the conference in blocks per set with 1.20, while Walsh is fifth with 1.15. Freshman libero Adam Wessel sits third in the conference with 2.25 digs per set as well.
SCOUTING No. 1 OHIO STATE: By welcoming No. 1 Ohio State to Worthen Arena, it will be the first time since Feb. 20, 2014 that the Cardinals will face a No. 1 team at home, with the last being then-Loyola for MIVA conference play. The Buckeyes have successfully clinched a berth into the MIVA postseason tournament with the Cardinals by marking a 9-1 record thus far. Ohio State holds the 92-84 advantage over Ball State, although the Cardinals topped the Buckeyes 3-2 (14-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-11, 18-16) earlier this season in Columbus, dishing out the only MIVA loss for the Buckeyes this season. The Buckeyes also stand out in the conference, while Nick Szerszen is second overall with 315 total kills, Christy Blough is second in assists per set with 10.78, Gabriel Domecus is fourth with 158 total digs, and Miles Johnson is fifth in kills per set. Ohio State players hold three of the top five spots in aces per set, with Johnson in second (0.44), Szerszen in third (0.42) and Christian Franceschi in fourth (0.39). Nationally, Ohio State is 10th overall with 12.04 assists per set, while Blough is sixth with 10.94 assists per set average.
SCOUTING McKENDREE: The Bearcats are coming in with a three-match win streak of Lees-McRae, King and Barton, prior to facing IPFW and Ball State this weekend in MIVA play. McKendree is a relatively new opponent for Ball State, as the two teams have only held three games against each other. The Cardinals have swept the Bearcats 3-0 at Worthen Arena the last two seasons, although most recently, the Cardinals earned a narrow 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 33-31, 15-7) win in Lebanon earlier this season. Top players for the Bearcats include Jared Wilcox, who holds 189 kills and .218 attack percentage, while Brendan Schmidt leads the team with 78 total blocks and 1.30 blocks per set average. Ian Zalewski sits third in the MIVA with 9.83 assists per set, Zach Thompson is third with 2.26 digs per set, Schmidt tops the charts with 1.30 blocks per set, while Wyatt Patterson is second overall with a .437 hitting percentage.
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 ESPN3 Broadcast vs No. 1 Ohio State: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/2758701/ohio-state-vs-ball-state
Live Broadcast vs McKendree: 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 hit the road for a four match stint to round out the regular season, first by facing Quincy on April 1, followed by Lindenwood on April 2 in MIVA action.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
