Thursday, January 10
Stanford, CA
10:00 PM / 7 PT
Ball State University
at
#11 Stanford
Cardinals to Face Stanford and BYU on West Coast Road Swing
January 09, 2019 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – After three-straight matches at home to open the new season, the Ball State men's volleyball team now hits the road for the first time and will face No. 11 Stanford along with No. 5 Brigham Young.
MATCH INFO
Ball State at Stanford
Thursday, Jan. 10 (10 p.m. ET)
Stanford, Calif. (Maples Pavilion)
Watch | Live Stats
Ball State at Brigham Young
Saturday Jan. 12 (9 p.m. ET)
Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
Watch | Live Stats
ABOUT STANFORD
The Cardinal enter Thursday's match ranked as the No. 11 team in the country. To date, Stanford has defeated Menlo and UC Santa Cruz. The Cardinal have not dropped a set through two matches.
ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG
The Cougars open their 2019 season on Thursday against No. 7 Ohio State. They are currently ranked No. 5 in the AVCA Top-15 Poll.
AVCA Top-15
After a successful opening weekend that saw the Ball State men's volleyball team defeat Princeton and New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Cardinals cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-15 Poll for the first time this year, coming in at No. 14.
MIVA PRESEASON POLL
When the coaches of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association submitted their picks for the preseason poll, Ball State was selected to finish fourth.
The Cardinals received 38 points overall and one first-place vote. Lewis was selected as the conference favorite with 58 points and four first-place votes while Loyola and Ohio State rounded out the top three. In-state rival Purdue Fort Wayne was behind BSU in fifth.
Along with the MIVA poll, the AVCA Top 15 was recently released and the Cardinals were the first team out of the poll but first among those receiving votes with a total of 19.
2019 Preseason Poll (points) (first place votes)
1. Lewis (58) (4)
2. Loyola (54) (1)
3. Ohio State (53) (2)
4. Ball State (38) (1)
5. Purdue Fort Wayne (36)
6. Lindenwood (23)
7. McKendree (18)
8. Quincy (8)
QUOTES
"I like this year's schedule because of the variety of teams we're playing. We're playing a very tough schedule with many top-15 ranked programs. We have a combination of good challenges at home and challenges on the road. This is a schedule that truly is taking us from one end of the country to the other. From Harvard out in Boston all the way to Hawaii, and then the matches we're returning to Stanford and BYU are exciting matches. We're especially excited for that BYU match because it's a great place to play with the passion that the people at BYU have for men's volleyball. It will be a fun environment for our guys to play in."
-Coach Walton on the 2019 schedule
"I hope that Muncie will come out and support the Don Shondell Active Ankle Challenge this year. We've got some great teams participating in that, and it would mean a lot to have the community come out and show their support for those few nights."
-Coach Walton on hosting the Active Ankle Challenge
"Every win we get this year we will have earned. This schedule will help our guys be seasoned and understand what it takes to play at a high level. By the end of the year, whatever rank we hold and whatever position we stand in will be what we've earned."
-Coach Walton on the challenges of the 2019 season
MATCH INFO
Ball State at Stanford
Thursday, Jan. 10 (10 p.m. ET)
Stanford, Calif. (Maples Pavilion)
Watch | Live Stats
Ball State at Brigham Young
Saturday Jan. 12 (9 p.m. ET)
Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
Watch | Live Stats
ABOUT STANFORD
The Cardinal enter Thursday's match ranked as the No. 11 team in the country. To date, Stanford has defeated Menlo and UC Santa Cruz. The Cardinal have not dropped a set through two matches.
ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG
The Cougars open their 2019 season on Thursday against No. 7 Ohio State. They are currently ranked No. 5 in the AVCA Top-15 Poll.
AVCA Top-15
After a successful opening weekend that saw the Ball State men's volleyball team defeat Princeton and New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Cardinals cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-15 Poll for the first time this year, coming in at No. 14.
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points | 2019 Record | Previous Week |
| 1 | Long Beach State (16) | 240 | 3-0 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 215 | 2-0 | 2 |
| 3 | UC Irvine | 205 | 2-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Hawai'i | 198 | 0-0 | 3 |
| T-5 | BYU | 170 | 0-0 | 5 |
| T-5 | Pepperdine | 170 | 2-0 | 6 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 136 | 2-0 | 8 |
| 8 | Loyola-Chicago | 121 | 1-1 | 9 |
| 9 | Lewis | 113 | 1-1 | 7 |
| 10 | UC Santa Barbara | 107 | 3-0 | 10 |
| 11 | Stanford | 69 | 2-0 | 13 |
| 12 | CSUN | 51 | 2-1 | 11 |
| 13 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 45 | 2-0 | T-14 |
| 14 | Ball State | 34 | 2-0 | NR |
| 15 | Grand Canyon | 27 | 1-2 | T-14 |
MIVA PRESEASON POLL
When the coaches of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association submitted their picks for the preseason poll, Ball State was selected to finish fourth.
The Cardinals received 38 points overall and one first-place vote. Lewis was selected as the conference favorite with 58 points and four first-place votes while Loyola and Ohio State rounded out the top three. In-state rival Purdue Fort Wayne was behind BSU in fifth.
Along with the MIVA poll, the AVCA Top 15 was recently released and the Cardinals were the first team out of the poll but first among those receiving votes with a total of 19.
2019 Preseason Poll (points) (first place votes)
1. Lewis (58) (4)
2. Loyola (54) (1)
3. Ohio State (53) (2)
4. Ball State (38) (1)
5. Purdue Fort Wayne (36)
6. Lindenwood (23)
7. McKendree (18)
8. Quincy (8)
QUOTES
"I like this year's schedule because of the variety of teams we're playing. We're playing a very tough schedule with many top-15 ranked programs. We have a combination of good challenges at home and challenges on the road. This is a schedule that truly is taking us from one end of the country to the other. From Harvard out in Boston all the way to Hawaii, and then the matches we're returning to Stanford and BYU are exciting matches. We're especially excited for that BYU match because it's a great place to play with the passion that the people at BYU have for men's volleyball. It will be a fun environment for our guys to play in."
-Coach Walton on the 2019 schedule
"I hope that Muncie will come out and support the Don Shondell Active Ankle Challenge this year. We've got some great teams participating in that, and it would mean a lot to have the community come out and show their support for those few nights."
-Coach Walton on hosting the Active Ankle Challenge
"Every win we get this year we will have earned. This schedule will help our guys be seasoned and understand what it takes to play at a high level. By the end of the year, whatever rank we hold and whatever position we stand in will be what we've earned."
-Coach Walton on the challenges of the 2019 season
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