Men’s Volleyball Continues MIVA Action at Lindenwood and Quincy

Game One
12 Ball State at Lindenwood
Friday, Feb. 24 (8 p.m.)
St. Charles, Mo.
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/lindenwood/mvball/
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lindenwood2/

Game Two
12 Ball State at Quincy
Saturday, Feb. 25 (8 p.m.)
Quincy, Ill.
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/quincy/mvball/
Live Video: www.glvcsn.com/quincy

MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 12 Ball State men's volleyball team is coming off two disappointing losses last weekend to seventh ranked Lewis (3-1) and tenth ranked Loyola (3-0). The Cardinals are hoping to bounce back as they travel to take on Lindenwood and Quincy. Ball State will continue MIVA action with Lindenwood on Friday, Feb. 24 and then head to take on Quincy Saturday, Feb. 25. Both matches are set to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Scouting Lindenwood:

Lindenwood enters the week with a 0-12 record. As a team, Lindenwood is third in the MIVA with 26 solo blocks. Jake Duckworth leads the Lions with 126 kills and 2.93 kills per set. Ryan Vorderer had 88 digs on the season, leading the team in that category. Lindenwood's Sam Schindler is fifth in the country with 1.15 blocks per set. Schindler is also fifth in the MIVA with a .335 hitting percentage.

Scouting Quincy:

Quincy (3-12 overall, 1-6 MIVA) leads the conference with 29 solo blocks. David Siebum leads the team with 142 kills and 3.02 kills per set. Defensively, Thane Fankulik leads the Hawks with 72 digs and 1.57 digs per set.

Last year's meetings:

In the first meeting between Ball State and Lindenwood last season, the Cardinals won the match, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-15). Mitch Weiler and Matt Walsh both knocked down four kills. Walsh also led the team in that contest with his seven blocks. Weiler added six blocks. Adam Wessel had a team high eight digs.

The Cardinals swept the Lions once again in the second meeting in April (25-14, 25-18, 25-19). Brendan Surane came up huge in that contest leading the team in kills (11), aces (3) and blocks (5). Edgardo Cartagena also had a big night tallying nine kills, four digs, one ace and one assist. Other big performances were Weiler with seven kills and a team high seven digs, Walsh with five blocks and two aces, and Alex Pia with four blocks.

When the Quincy came to Muncie in April for the first meeting last season, Ball State took the win, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-18). The Cardinals had 32 kills, 12 of those by Surane. Mike Scannell knocked down eight kills along with adding three blocks and two service aces. Walsh had five kills and a team high 10 blocks.

The Cardinals went on to sweep the Hawks again in the second meeting (25-11, 25-17, 26-24). Both teams tallied 37 kills, but Ball State won the battle with a .387 hitting percentage. The leaders in kills were Surane (14), Cartagena (7) and Walsh (6). Cartagena and Weiler each had one service ace. In blocks, Pia had a team high seven while Surane added four and Cartagena added three. Wessel led the way with nine digs.

Cardinal Facts:

Going into this week's matches, the Cardinals are second in the MIVA in multiple categories, kills per set (12.57), total blocks (139), block assists (233), digs (496) and digs per set (8.86). Ball State is also third in blocks per set with 2.47 and third in assists per set with 11.59.

Freshman Matt Szews leads the team with 193 kills and 3.55 kills per set. Szews is third in the MIVA with his 3.57 kills per set and fifth in kills (193). In Szews' collegiate debut, he knocked down 19 kills. That was the most in a season opener since the 2009 season when Todd Chamberlin tallied 20. Szews has also tallied 19 total blocks on the season.

Sophomore Adam Wessel, a defensive specialist for the Cardinals, had 9 digs and 1.80 digs per set in the two matches last week. Wessel is currently fourth in the MIVA with 2.24 digs per set.

In the record books:

Preseason All-MIVA selection Matt Walsh put down 11 kills for a .368 attack percentage in last week's action. Walsh sits at third in the MIVA with 1.10 blocks per set. Walsh's name can be found all over the Ball State volleyball career record books (during rally scoring). He is sixth in attack percentage (.400), sixth in blocks per set (1.22), seventh in block assists (279 through 249 sets), eighth in total blocks (303) and tied for 18th in solo blocks (24).

Senior Alex Pia also has stamped his name in the record books (during rally scoring). Pia is 10th in career blocks per set with 1.03 through 175 sets. He is also 16th in career block assists (176) and tied for 19th in total career blocks (181).

With his 21 kills in the two matches last week, senior preseason All-MIVA selection Brendan Surane moved into 13th in school history (during rally scoring) with 659 kills. Surane is also tied for 16th (during rally scoring) in career solo blocks with 26 along with an eighth place spot in service aces (62). He is also 14th with a career attack percentage of .287, 15th with 2.25 kills per set (through 287 sets), 17th in block assists (164) and 17th in total blocks (190).

Connor Gross took his place in the record books, sitting at seventh (during rally scoring) in career assists with 790 through 90 sets. Last week, he had 73 assists, 10.43 assists per set and eight digs. The senior setter has 571 assists so far this season. He averages 10.57 assists per set, placing him second in the conference.

Junior Mitch Weiler racked up 109 kills, 30 blocks and 81 digs so far into the 2017 season. Weiler leads the team in career digs with 287. He is also 18th in school history (during rally scoring) with 1.46 digs per set.

For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's volleyball team, please follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB.

Men’s Volleyball Continues MIVA Action at Lindenwood and Quincy

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Players Mentioned

Edgardo Cartagena

Connor Gross

Alex Pia

Mike Scannell

Brendan Surane

Matt Szews

Matt Walsh

Mitch Weiler

Adam Wessel