Cardinals Kick off Conference Action at No. 5 Ohio State and McKendree

Thursday, February 8

Columbus, OH

7 PM

Ball State University

Ohio State University

Photo by: Michael Hickey

Cardinals Kick off Conference Action at No. 5 Ohio State and McKendree

February 07, 2018 | Men's Volleyball

Match Notes

Match One
Ball State at No. 5 Ohio State
Thursday, Feb. 8 (7 p.m.)
Columbus, Ohio
Live Stats
Live Stream

Match Two
Ball State at McKendree
Saturday, Feb. 10 (7 p.m.)
Lebanon, Ill.
Live Stats
Live Stream

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's volleyball team continues its road match streak with trips to conference foes Ohio State and McKendree. The Cardinals kick off Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action with a rematch of last year's conference semifinals against the fifth ranked Buckeyes. Ball State will travel to St. John Arena Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Conference action will continue on Saturday, Feb. 10 with a trip to McKendree.

Ball State is coming off a weekend where they split the two matches. The Cardinals were unable to pull off the upset against the Nittany Lions, falling 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 10-15). The next night, Ball State was able to take down the Red Flash, 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19). The victory over Saint Francis marked the first road win for the Cardinals and snapped a three match losing streak.

Scouting Ohio State:

Ball State kicks off conference action Thursday, Feb. 8 in Columbus, Ohio against the two-time defending national champions. The fifth ranked Buckeyes will come into this weekend with a 7-2 record. The only two losses Ohio State has this season are against two top ten teams, BYU and UCLA. The Buckeyes fell in five sets in both matches.

The Cardinals lead the all-time series against Ohio State, 104-97-1, but the Buckeyes have won the last four. In the first meeting between the two teams last season, Ohio State came into Muncie and swept the Cardinals. Matt Szews led the way in that matchup with 14 kills, four digs and one service ace. Matt Walsh had nine kills and one assist. The Buckeyes swept Ball State once again in the second meeting in March. Anthony Lebryk had a team-high six kills while Szews tallied four. A third matchup between Ball State and Ohio State came in the MIVA Semifinals. The Cardinals took the Buckeyes to five sets, but eventually fell 3-2. Blake Reardon has 14 kills while Walsh added 12. Walsh and Szews each had six blocks in that contest. Parker Swartz had four blocks and two service aces. Adam Wessel led the way in that contest with 16 digs.

Scouting McKendree:

McKendree enters the weekend with a 3-5 record, winning one conference contest already. The Bearcats have picked up wins over Limestone College, Lincoln Memorial University and Lindenwood. Three of the team's losses came at the hands of ranked teams, Long Beach State, UCLA, and Grand Canyon. The Bearcats will be taking on another MIVA foe, Fort Wayne, prior to the matchup with Ball State.

McKendree and Ball State had two meetings last season. The first one came in February in Muncie, where the Cardinals won, 3-0. Lebryk had a team-high four blocks along with eight kills. Szews had 10 kills, two service aces and a team-high eight digs. Swartz had four blocks and one service ace. The second meeting came in Lebanon, Ill. where the Bearcats picked up their second ever win over Ball State. Walsh had 11 kills, three service aces, and three blocks. Szews was able to tally 10 kills, seven digs and two service aces. LaVanchy had eight digs and three assists.

Cardinal Facts:

As a team, the Cardinals are in the top three in multiple stat categories. Ball State is first in block assists (174) and total team blocks (101). The Cardinals are second in kills with 454, assists with 429, digs with 352, blocks per set with 2.59 and points with 604. The team is also tied with Ohio State in third with 17 solo blocks.

Matt Walsh and Mitch Weiler are the two Cardinals that are ranked in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Walsh is fifth with 1.13 blocks per set. Weiler is fourth in digs with 67.

In the record books:

Matt Walsh's name can be found in 11 different places in the Ball State record book. That is the most of any current player. Walsh is second in school history (during rally scoring era) in total career blocks (415) and in block assists (376). He has marked 73 career service aces so far, which sits him in fourth all-time (during rally scoring era). Walsh sits in the sixth spot in career attack percentage (.402) and in blocks per set (1.22). His 39 career solo blocks put him eighth in school history while his 928 career points put him in ninth. Other places you will find his name are points per set, kills service attempts and service aces per set.

Mitch Weiler's name is also etched in the record books. He leads the team this year in digs and is 14th in school history (during rally scoring era) with 410 career digs. Weiler is also 16th in attack attempts with 1261 and 18th in service attempts with 874.

Matt Szews is second in Ball State history (during rally scoring era) service aces per set with 0.34 through 142 sets. He is also third in kills per set (3.23) and in points per set (3.91). As a sophomore, Szews already has 48 career service aces, which is 15th in the record books. He is also 20th in attack attempts and digs per set.

Adam Wessel, Courtland Scharenborg, and Jake Romano are all ranked in Ball State history in assists. Scharenborg is 10th with 251 with Romano in 11th with 164. Wessel is 19th in that category with 83. Wessel is also ranked in digs per set (4th, 2.02), assists per set (10th, 0.46), and digs (361). Nick LaVanchy is now in the record books too. He is sixth in digs per set with 1.91 through 100 sets.

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