Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Hosts McKendree For MIVA Tournament Play
April 14, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 11 Ball State (20-8, 12-4 MIVA) men's volleyball team will welcome McKendree (10-13, 5-11 MIVA) to Worthen Arena on Saturday evening for the quarterfinals of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Cardinals are seeded No. 3 in the conference tournament while the Bearcats are seeded at No. 6. The winner of the Worthen Arena quarterfinal will move on to face the winner of second-seeded Loyola or No. 7 seed Quincy on Wednesday, April 20.
In last Friday evening's MIVA play, Ball State fell in a swift 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-13) sweep to Lewis. For the third consecutive match, junior Brendan Surane led the Cardinals offense with 10 kills. The MIVA Offensive Player of the Week also tacked on a team-high of four total blocks and one ace on the night including six kills and two solo blocks in the opening set.
Of the four Ball State service aces, Matt Walsh, Connor Gross and Marcin Niemczewski met Surane with downing an ace on the Flyers. Walsh also tallied one block assist and three kills, while Niemczewski marked three aces in addition to Gross' three assists.
On the road Saturday night, the Cardinals dropped a 3-1 (23-25, 25-27, 29-27, 25-17) final to close regular season action against two-time defending national champion Loyola. The offensive charge was tackled by the combination of sophomore Mitch Weiler, junior Mike Scannell and Niemczewski, who each tallied 12 kills a piece. Walsh got in on the action by marking nine kills, in addition to posting a team-high of five total blocks.
Nationally, Ball State fell from last week's No. 8 ranking to a current 11th overall ranking. The Cardinals are also ranked second overall in blocks per set with 2.85, while junior Alex Pia sits seventh in the nation and second in the conference with 1.21 blocks per set. Freshman libero Adam Wessel sits third in the conference with 2.22 digs per set and fourth with 195 total digs as well.
SCOUTING McKENDREE: After a five match losing streak, the Bearcats downed Quincy with a 3-0 sweep prior to facing Ball State this weekend in MIVA tournament play. McKendree is a relatively new opponent for Ball State, as the two teams have only held four matches 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 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22) win on senior night in Worthen. Top players for the Bearcats include Wyatt Patterson who is third overall in the MIVA with a .452 hitting percentage, while Brendan Schmidt is third with 1.18 blocks per set. Zach Thompson is fifth overall in the conference with a mark of 2.16 digs per set, while Schmidt's blocking game puts him ninth in the country.
Live stats and broadcast will be available for fans unable to attend the matchup at:
Live Stats: http://www.ballstatesports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14200&LIST_SPORT__VOLLEYBALL
Live Broadcast vs McKendree: http://www.ballstatesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=7635&DB_OEM_ID=14200&db_oem_id=14200
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
