Men’s Volleyball To Honor Seniors in Team’s Closing Weekend

Match One
#12 Ball State vs. McKendree
Friday, April 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats
ESPN3

Match Two
#12 Ball State vs. #7 Ohio State
Saturday, April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats
ESPN3

MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 12 Ball State men's volleyball team will close out the regular season by welcoming McKendree and seventh ranked Ohio State into Worthen Arena. The Bearcats will make their way to Muncie on Friday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. The following night, the Buckeyes will enter Worthen to battle the Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. The three seniors will be honored prior to the Ohio State match.

The Cardinals are coming off two conference wins against Lindenwood and Quincy last weekend. Against Lindenwood, Ball State won, 3-2, in a very exciting fashion. Ball State was able to tally 64 total kills on 59 assists. The Cardinals also had 67 digs, 11 total team blocks and six service aces. Individually, three Ball State Cardinals were in double digits in kills. Matt Szews marked his second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs. Matt Walsh led the team in kills with 14 for a .423 hitting percentage. Walsh also had four blocks and one assist on the night. Ben Chinnici matched Szews with 12 kills. The dynamic freshman also had seven digs, two blocks and two service aces. Mitch Weiler along with Szews led the team in digs with 13. Weiler also had eight kills, four blocks, two assists and one service ace. Other powerful performances on the night included seven kills from Parker Swartz and five kills by Ryan Dorgan. Nick LaVanchy had 12 digs on the night with 11 added by Jake Romano. Romano also had a match-high 50 assists.

Ball State swept Quincy the next night. Ball State had 33 kills on 30 assists while holding Quincy to a negative hitting percentage. The Cardinals also had 34 digs, 10.5 total team blocks and seven service aces on the night. Dorgan led the team in with a career-high nine kills in his first career start. Dorgan also had a career-high in service aces (2), digs (7) and total blocks (3). Dorgan's seven digs led the team. Chinnici also notched nine kills on the night along with five digs and five blocks. Weiler had five kills, five digs, one ace and one block. Walsh had four kills, three blocks and two aces on the night. Swartz and Anthony Lebryk had two kills apiece. Romano had 27 of the team's 30 assists along with six digs. LaVanchy had four digs with three added by David Siebum.

Scouting McKendree:

Ball State leads the all-time series, 6-3, but has lost the last two to the Bearcats. The matchup earlier this season went to McKendree, 3-1. Ball State tallied 48 kills for only a .149 hitting percentage on the day. The Cardinals also had 45 assists, 43 digs, 10 block assists and six service aces. McKendree proved to be tough defensively, posting 53 digs, one solo block and 25 block assists.

Blake Reardon led the team in kills with 13. Reardon also had two service aces, three digs and three block assists. Weiler added nine kills and eight digs while Chinnici and Szews each had eight kills. Lebryk, along with Reardon, led the team with three block assists. Romano had 26 assists along with a team-high nine digs in the contest.

McKendree currently has three different Bearcats ranked in the MIVA. Zach Thompson is third in digs (197) and fifth in digs per set (2.24). Brendan Schmidt is second in hitting percentage (.408) with Pasquale Fiduccia sitting in the third spot in assists per set (10.12).
The Bearcats are 11-12 overall with a 6-6 record in the conference. McKendree currently sits in the fifth spot in MIVA standings going into this weekend.

Scouting Ohio State:

Ball State has lost five straight to the Buckeyes, making the all-time series 104-101-1. In the 3-2 loss earlier this year Ball State racked up 51 total kills for a .246 hitting percentage. The Cardinals also added 49 digs, 46 assists, 7.0 team blocks and four service aces.

Leading the Cardinals was Walsh with 15 kills and a .556 hitting percentage. Walsh also led the team in blocks with one solo block and four block assists. Weiler and Reardon were also in double digit kills. Weiler had 11 and Reardon had 10. Weiler also had one service ace, nine digs and three block assists. Reardon had two service aces along with a team-high 11 digs. LaVanchy also added 10 digs.

With a 19-4 overall record and 10-2 in the MIVA, Ohio State is tied atop the conference with Loyola. Nicolas Szerszen, Jake Hanes and Sanil Thomas are the three Buckeyes that can be found in the conference rankings. Szerszen is third in kills per set (3.69), fifth in total kills (284) and third in hitting percentage (.392). Hanes can be found in the fourth place spot in kills per set with 3.54 along with second in service aces per set with 0.41. Thomas leads the conference in assists per set with 11.26.

Ball State Seniors:

Three Ball State seniors will be honored this weekend for their four years of dedication and hard work. Those three seniors are Anthony Lebryk, Matt Walsh and Mitch Weiler.

Lebryk, a middle attacker, is a four year letterwinner for the Ball State team. In his freshman season, he earned his first letter along with being named to the Academic All-MIVA team. During his sophomore season, he tallied 10 kills, two service aces and 18 total blocks. He averaged 1.00 block per set along with a .391 hitting percentage on the season. Lebryk saw action in 43 sets, including five starts as a junior. The Glenview, Illinois native notched 48 kills for a .422 hitting percentage in his junior season. For his career, Lebryk has totaled 104 kills for a .391 hitting percentage. He also has 37 digs, 98 block assists and six solo blocks so far for his career.

A Chicago native, Walsh has earned four letters as a Cardinal. In his first season, Walsh was named MIVA Defensive Player of the week twice along with being named to the Academic All-MIVA Team and to the Off The Block Freshman All-American Team. He earned 27 starts in his freshman campaign tallying 153 kills for a .384 hitting percentage. Walsh also had 17 aces that season, which placed him third in school history. As a sophomore, the middle blocker was named to the All-MIVA Second Team after posting 158 total kills and 20 service aces. Walsh finished that season averaging 1.52 kills per set and 1.12 blocks per set. Last season, he was named All-MIVA First Team along with AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. In his 28 starts as a junior, Walsh tallied 223 kills for a .449 hitting percentage. That hitting percentage was the top percentage in the country. For his career, he has totaled 481 blocks, 766 kills, and a .400 hitting percentage. With those career numbers, Walsh's name can be found in 11 different spots through the Ball State history books.

As an outside attacker, Weiler is a four year-letterwinner as a member of the Ball State men's volleyball team. As a freshman, Weiler saw action in 19 matches, including two starts. During that season, he tallied 34 digs and was named to the Academic All-MIVA Team. In his sophomore season, the Oak Lawn, Illinois native tallied 224 kills, 70 blocks and seven aces. Those numbers earned him All-MIVA Honorable Mention. As a junior, Weiler saw action in 96 sets tallying 148 kills, 132 digs, 56 total blocks and six service aces. Up to this point in his career, Weiler has 554 kills, 72 assists, 529 digs, 173 total blocks and 26 service aces placing him in the Ball State record books in multiple categories.

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

Men’s Volleyball To Honor Seniors in Team’s Closing Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Lebryk

Blake Reardon

David Siebum

Matt Walsh

Mitch Weiler