Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball To Round Out The Regular Season
April 05, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 8 Ball State (20-6, 12-2 MIVA) men's volleyball team will round out the regular season by taking on major Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foes on the road Friday and Saturday evening. The Cardinals will first face No. 13 Lewis (15-12, 8-6 MIVA) followed by No. 12 Loyola (17-7, 10-4 MIVA), with both matches kicking off in a 7 p.m. first serve.
Last weekend, Ball State traveled to Quincy (17-20, 3-10 MIVA) Friday evening and improved to an 11-2 mark on the season in critical conference play with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 26-24) sweep. Junior Brendan Surane led the Cardinals by racking up 14 kills over the course of the three sets, including five in the first game. In addition to Surane hitting a .462 percentage, Edgardo Cartagena notched seven kills with a .500 mark, while sophomore Matt Walsh got in on the action with a .857 attack percentage on six kills. The combination by the Cardinals offense ultimately led to a solid .387 team attack percentage, on the way to downing 37 kills on the Hawks.
The Ball State defense was just as powerful, holding Quincy to just a .167 hitting percentage. On the way to racking up 9.0 total team blocks, Surane jumped for four block assists, while junior Alex Pia led the team with seven total blocks. Freshman libero Adam Wessel tallied nine digs, while Cartagena took on eight, rounding out the defensive action by Ball State.
The Cardinals then took home its second sweep of the weekend when it faced Lindenwood (4-16, 2-12 MIVA) Saturday evening in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-18) final. For the second consecutive match, Surane led the Cardinals with 11 kills over the course of the three sets, in addition to stopping five Lindenwood attacks with block assists. To follow up his two aces in the second set, Surane marked a match-high five kills and a third service ace in the final game.
Other standouts for the red and white include Cartagena, who downed nine kills while hitting a .438 percentage, and Walsh who marked five block assists over the course of the three sets. Cartagena also took on 17 receptions, while Walsh notched two aces, holding down the defensive lines for the Cardinals in the eighth sweep of the season.
Nationally, Ball State improved to a No. 8 ranking, compared to last week's 9th overall rank. The Cardinals are also ranked second overall in blocks per set with 2.91, while Pia sits seventh in the nation with 1.25 blocks per set and Walsh is 10th with 1.16. In conference action, Ball State second with a 12-2 record, just behind Ohio State. Individually, Pia leads the conference in blocks per set with 1.25, while Walsh is fourth with 1.16. Wessel also sits fourth in the conference in both total digs (180), as well as digs per set (2.20). Surane also earned MIVA Offensive Player of the week for his efforts in the sweeps of Lindenwood and Quincy.
SCOUTING No. 13 LEWIS: The Flyers are currently 15-12 overall and 8-6 in MIVA play, although are currently on a two match losing streak due to a pair of 3-2 losses from Penn State and Loyola. Bobby Walsh, older brother of Ball State sophomore Matt Walsh, leads the conference hitting a .480 percentage, while Jacob Schmiegelt is narrowly behind with a .451 for second in the MIVA. Scott Fifer sits fourth overall with 9.71 assists per set, while Jake Walenga is second in total digs with 196 in the books. Nationally, the Flyers are 10th overall with an average of 2.39 blocks per set. 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. The all-time series between the Cardinals and the Flyers is all squared up at 26-26, which includes just three home and one road win in the last five years. Most recently, the then-No. 12 Cardinals downed then-No. 14 Lewis on Feb. 18 in Worthen Arena with a 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25, 15-12) final.
SCOUTING No. 12 LOYOLA: Two-time defending national champion Loyola is currently 17-7 on the season, including 10-4 in conference play. Nationally, the Ramblers are seventh overall with 2.44 blocks per set, seventh in assists per set (12.30) and Peter Hutz sits second in the nation with 11.21 assists per set average. In the MIVA, Jeff Jendryk and Nicholas Olson are fourth and fifth in hitting percentage with .430 and .427 marks, respectivel in addition to Hutz topping the conference charts with his 11.21 assists per set. 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 28-20 advantage over Ball State, going 11-2 over the last five years. The Ramblers have only given the Cardinals a total of 15 winning sets and two match victories in the last five years, with both of the winning matches taking place at home. Although the first win came in April of 2010, the Cardinals downed then-No. 8 Loyola much more recently in a 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23) final in Worthen on Feb. 17 this season. Mark Hulse, a native of Evanston, Ill., is in 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.
Live stats and broadcast will be available for fans unable to attend the matchups at:
Live Stats/Broadcast vs No. 12 Loyola: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/sports/m-volley/sched/loyc-m-volley-sched.html
Live Stats vs No. 13 Lewis: http://sidearmstats.com/lewisu/mvball/
Live Broadcast vs No. 13 Lewis: http://www.lewisflyers.com/watch/?Live=335
Looking ahead, the Ball State men's volleyball team will compete in the MIVA Tournament, beginning on April 16. Stay tuned to the BallStateSports.com website for more information on the Cardinals game information.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
