Men’s Volleyball Set for Back to Back Matches with Fort Wayne

Match One
#11 Ball State at #15 Fort Wayne
Wednesday, Mar. 14 (7 p.m.)
Fort Wayne, Ind.
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Match Two
#11 Ball State vs. #15 Fort Wayne
Saturday, Mar.1 7 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind.
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MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's volleyball team will return to conference play after its four match road trip to California. The 11^th ranked Cardinals went 2-2 during their Spring Break trip taking down UC San Diego (3-0) and Concordia Irvine (3-1). Ball State fell to UC Irvine (3-0) and UC Santa Barbara (3-0). Ball State will now look to bounce back into the win column with two matches against the 15^th ranked Fort Wayne Mastodons. The Cardinals will travel to Fort Wayne on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. Ball State will then welcome Fort Wayne to Muncie on Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Scouting Fort Wayne:

Fort Wayne will come into this week's matches with 15-5 record, 3-3 in the MIVA. The Mastodons picked up two big wins last week taking down #3 UC Irvine and #14 Concordia Irvine moving them back into the top 15 coaches poll. Pelegrin Vargas leads the team in kills this season with 271 sitting him in first in that category in the MIVA. He averages 3.71 kills per set, sitting him in the second place spot in the conference. Michael Keegan, Kolbie Knorr, Richie Diedrich, and Colton Stone are the other Fort Wayne members ranked in the conference. Fort Wayne's Tony Price was named AVCA National Player of the week and MIVA Offensive Player of the week with 3.09 kills per set and a .364 hitting percentage in 11 sets of play last week.

The Cardinals have won the last four matches against the Mastodons and lead the all-time series 75-29. The first meeting last season took place in Muncie where the Cardinals swept Fort Wayne. Matt Szews led the team in kills in that match with 16. He also had eight digs, three blocks and one service ace. Mitch Weiler had eight kills along with one assist. Matt Walsh led the team in blocks with four.

Szews led the way in the second matchup last season as well with 18 kills. Walsh added nine kills and six blocks. Weiler had four assists and four digs. Ball State took that match as well, 3-2.

Cardinal Facts:

As a team, the Cardinals are highly ranked in the MIVA and nationally. In the conference, Ball State is first in digs per set with 10.30. This also sits them at number one in the country. Ball State is second in the MIVA in digs (793), block assists (287) and total team blocks (170). The team has 926 kills, 865 assists, and 1,187.5 points, which sits them at third in all those categories in the conference.

In the national rankings, Ball State is third in team attacker per set with 29.51. The team is also 18^th in kills per set (12.03), 19^th in assists per set (11.23), 22^nd in blocks per set (2.20) and 23^rd in hitting percentage (.233).

Individually, Weiler and Walsh are the two Cardinals in the rankings. Weiler is fourth in the MIVA with 148 season digs. Walsh is third in the conference and 10^th nationally in blocks per set with 1.12. Walsh is also 14^th nationally in hitting percentage (.391).

In the record books:

Walsh's name sits in the record books in multiple categories. He is second in block assists (410) and total blocks (456). With 90 career service aces, he sits third all-time. Walsh sits in the sixth place spot all-time in attack percentage (.401), in points (1060) and in blocks per set (1.21). He is seventh in solo blocks with 46 along with being ninth in career kills with 719. Other places where you can find his name is in attack attempts (1,336), service aces per set (.24) and points per set (2.80).

Szews is also in the Ball State record books. The sophomore is second in service aces per set with 0.32. He is also fourth in points per set (3.78) and kills per set (3.13). Szews is 12^th in service aces with 55 career aces. He is also 15^th in digs per set (1.58) and attack attempts (1,392). The left-handed outside attacker also already has 545 career kills, sitting him 20^th in school history.

Weiler comes into the week sitting 11^th in attack attempts (1,501), 12^th in career digs (491) and 13^th in service attempts (1,036). The senior is also 18^th in digs per set with 1.56.

Adam Wessel is ranked in four different categories. He is fifth in digs per set with 1.90, leading the team in that. The junior is also 10^th in assists per set (0.47) and 16^th in digs (398). Wessel also sits at 17^th in assists with 98. Jake Romano and Courtland Scharenborg are also ranked in assists. Romano is ninth with 519 while Scharenborg is 11^th with 285.

Nick LaVanchy and Anthony Lebryk are the other two current Cardinals in the record books. LaVanchy is eighth in digs per set with 1.83. Lebryk is 13^th in blocks per set with 0.86.

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

Men’s Volleyball Set for Back to Back Matches with Fort Wayne

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Players Mentioned

Nick LaVanchy

Anthony Lebryk

Jake Romano

Courtland Scharenborg

Matt Szews

Matt Walsh

Mitch Weiler

Adam Wessel