Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
McKendree University
No. 7 Ball State Men's Volleyball Hosts No. 15 McKendree & No. 13 Lewis This Weekend
March 30, 2022 | Men's Volleyball
No. 7 Ball State (17-2, 9-1 MIVA) hosts No. 15 McKendree (12-8, 7-3 MIVA) & No. 13 Lewis (12-10, 4-6 MIVA)
Thursday, March 31 & Saturday, April 2
Live Streaming: ESPN+
Last meeting: Ball State 3, McKendree 1 (2/12/22) | Series History: Ball State leads the all-time series 11-6
Last meeting: Ball State 3, Lewis 0 (2/10/22) | Series History: Lewis leads the all-time series 34-33
NEW ERA: First-year head coach Donan Cruz has started his first year off strong so far this season leading the Cardinals to five-straight wins which included back-to-back victories over No. 1 Hawai'i … Prior to taking over the helm of the Cardinals, Cruz was a four-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Coach of the Year at Grand View University … Just the fourth head coach in the storied history of Ball State men's volleyball, Cruz led the inaugural Grand View men's team to a 13-13 mark in 2012 season, on his way to compiling a 211-55 overall record with the Vikings … He concluded his Grand View career with the best winning percentage in NAIA men's volleyball history at .793.
ALSO NEW ON THE STAFF: Joining Cruz on the Ball State staff are Midwestern Volleyball Association (MIVA) standout and former Lewis University star Mike Iandolo and BYU men's volleyball alumnus Christian Rupert … Iandolo was a two-time All-MIVA First Team selection and spent the last three season as the head coach at the University of Charleston … Rupert helped lead the Cougars to a pair of appearances NCAA Division I/II Men's Volleyball Championship Match, and following a brief professional career, spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Princeton.
SCOUTING NO. 15 MCKENDREE: McKendree comes to Ball State with a 12-8 overall record and a 7-3 league mark. After the Cardinals defeated the Bearcats on Feb. 16 in Lebanon, Ill. by a score of 3-1 McKendree has only lost two MIVA matches. The Bearcats have won three-straight heading into this weekend's action and are sitting in third place in the conference standings. Ethan Carroll leads the squad offensively with 270 kills on the season. Against Ball State, Kaleb Jenness led the Cardinals with 19 kills while Carroll turned in an 18-kill performance for the Bearcats.
SCOUTING NO. 13 LEWIS: Lewis comes to Muncie with an overall record of 12-10 and 4-6 in MIVA action. The last time the Flyers and the Cardinals met was on Feb. 10, 2022 in Romeoville, Ill. Ball State won that meeting 3-0 after putting on a convincing display on offense and defense making it the first win for Ball State at Lewis since 2010. The Cardinal's charge was led by Angelos Mandilaris with 18 kills and Kaleb Jenness who turned in a 17-kill performance. Mandilaris turned in a .593 hitting percentage after limiting himself to only two attack errors. Lewis is coming off of a loss to No. 11 Loyola Chicago and will take on Ohio State on Thursday before playing at Ball State on Saturday. Lewis is led offensively by Tyler Mitchem who is the brother current of Ball State women's volleyball outside hitter Natalie Mitchem.
IN THE NATION: The Cardinals moved up one spot in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll and are now ranked No. 7. The highest Ball State has ever been ranked was No. 5 and that was in the final poll in 1995. Graduate senior setter Quinn Isaacson still ranks first in the nation among his setting peers with 11.55 assists per set while Ball State as a team also holds the top spot for that same category (12.86). Senior middle blocker Felix Egharevba is third in the nation in blocks per set (1.387) and Kaleb Jenness is sixth in attacks per set (8.94) and second in kills per set (4.63).
LAST WEEK'S RECAP: The Cardinals won two tough road matches in MIVA play earning 3-0 sweeps over Quincy and Lindenwood. Ball State sits in first place in the current MIVA standings with a 9-1 ledger. The Cardinals have not clinched the MIVA title outright since the 1997 season. Ball State has only four MIVA regular season matches remaining.
SENIOR NIGHT: After that match against Lewis Saturday the Cardinals will pay tribute to their seven seniors; Quinn Isaacson, Colin Ensalaco, Angelos Mandilaris, Felix Egharevba, Will Hippe, Brandon Shepherd and Nick Martinski.
