MVB Opens Tough MIVA Road Weekend with 3-0 Sweep at McKendree

Thursday, March 30

Lebanon, IL

8 pm ET/7 pm CT

Ball State University

15-8,8-3MIVA

McKendree University

6-12,1-10MIVA

Ball St.

McKendree

MVB Opens Tough MIVA Road Weekend with 3-0 Sweep at McKendree

March 30, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

LEBANON, Ill. - The Ball State men's volleyball team opened its last Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season road weekend with a 3-0 sweep at McKendree Thursday night at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.

The all-around team effort from the Cardinals (15-8, 8-3 MIVA) caused the Bearcats (6-12, 1-10 MIVA) to have problems on both sides of the net.

"Really proud of our team and how we got off to a fast start in set one," Ball State head men's volleyball coach Donan Cruz said. "Our intensity set the tone for the match, and we sustained the energy and discipline throughout. Mckendree is a good team and for us to play as clean and consistent as we did is a testament to our trust within the team and our guys training hard.

As a team, Ball State hit .444 percent from the floor after throwing down 42 kills off 72 attempts. Tinaishe Ndavazocheva led the Cardinals with 12 kills while Kaleb Jenness turned in an 11-kill performance and had owned a .563 hitting percentage.

For the most part, Ball State controlled the tempo of the contest in all three frames.

Ball State seemed to breeze through set one after jumping ahead 19-12 off a kill from Jenness. The Cardinals continued to stay on pace, taking the opening frame over the Bearcats, 25-18.

Frames two and three were slightly closer throughout their entirety but Ball State was able to find an offensive rhythm that allowed setter David Flores to use multiple Cardinals to get the job done.

A kill from Ndavazocheva would claim set two for Ball State, 25-21 and Vanis Buckholz's kill up the middle would clinch match point and set three, 25-20.

The Ball State men's volleyball team will close out its two-match weekend at Lewis Saturday. First serve is at 6 pm ET at Neil Carey Arena.