Ball State University
Grand Canyon University
No. 11 Men's Volleyball Closes Spring Break Trip at No. 5 Grand Canyon University
March 07, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
CRUZ'S FIRST MEMORABLE SEASON: The Cardinals are looking to build off a historic 2022 season which saw Donan Cruz, in his first year at the helm, lead Ball State to a 23-4 overall record and the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship. BSU was also ranked third in the final NVA/AVCA Men's Division I-II Coaches Poll: the highest ranking in program history. Ball State was also the 2022 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season and tournament champions. Cruz was named the 2022 AVCA Coach of the Year last season and MIVA Coach of the Year.Â
SCOUTING NO. 5 GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY: Grand Canyon University enters Wednesday's match ranked No. 5 in the nation with a 16-1 overall record. GCU's lone loss came against No. 7 Pepperdine on Feb. 24 after losing in five sets. Grand Canyon recently earned back-to-back wins against No. 8 BYU this past weekend at GCU Arena. The Lopes are unbeaten thus far this season with an 11-0 mark. GCU is led offensively by Christian Janke with 184 total kills.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: - Ball State moved up one spot in the latest NVA/AVCA rankings coming in at No. 11 this week. The Cardinals spring break trip will come to an end Wednesday night at GCU. So far, Ball State played two matches in California losing to No. 4 Long Beach State (3-1) and then defeating UC San Diego (3-2). After this week, the Cardinals return to MIVA action Wednesday in Worthen Arena against longtime rival Ohio State. First serve is at 7 pm ET. It will also be club Volleyball Night at Worthen as the Cardinals will be recognizing Munciana's 50 Year Anniversary.
NDAVAZOCHEVA EARNS MIVA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK & OFF THE BLOCK NATIONAL HONORS: Sophomore Tinaishe Ndavazocheva of the ninth-ranked Ball State men's volleyball team has earned his first career weekly honor for the Cardinals after being named the Midwestern Intercollegiate Offensive Player of the Week. Ndavazocheva gave Ball State its first win over a ranked foe this week, splitting a two-match series with No. 11 BYU. The sophomore from Masvingo, Zimbabwe finished his week with 43 kills, averaging 5.38 per set. He was efficient with his offense, hitting over .300 in both matches and averaging .393 for the week. The outside hitter also added a pair of aces. Ndavazocheva was also recognized by Off The Block as the nation's Outside Attacker of the Week.
CARDINAL STANDOUTS RETURN: The Cardinals return veterans outside attacker Kaleb Jenness and middle blocker Felix Egharevba. Jenness has been tabbed preseason All-MIVA three straight seasons. Last year, Jenness was tabbed the MIVA Player of the Year and the MIVA Tournament MVP while also tallying First Team All-MIVA honors. Jenness was also tabbed as First Team NVA/AVCA All-American. Egharevba, a force to be reckoned with on defense, Egharevba was tabbed to the All-MIVA Second Team for the second time in his career. Last year Egharevba also earned NVA/AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. He ended last season as the 2021-22 NCAA Division NC statistical champion for blocks per set (1.41).
LAST MEETING: The last time BSU played GCU was March 2, 2017 in Muncie, Ind. The Lopes won that match in five sets but the Cardinals had defeated GCU the night prior, 3-0. That was the last year Grand Canyon University was a MIVA member. Now GCU is a member of MPSF.
