Men's Volleyball Wraps up MIVA Regular Season Play at Home This Weekend

No. 11 Ball State (16-8, 9-3 MIVA) | No. 10 Loyola Chicago (21-4, 11-1 MIVA) Thursday, April 6 at 7 pm ET
| Purdue Fort-Wayne (16-10, 7-5 MIVA) Saturday, April 8 at 7 pm ET
Series History: Loyola Chicago leads the all-time series 39-24
Last meeting: Loyola Chicago 3, Ball State 1 (2/16/23)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 80-33
Last meeting: Ball State 3, Purdue Fort Wayne 2 (2/18/23)

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.

MIVA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS: Ball State has clinched a home game in the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals which starts next Saturday, April 15. The Cardinals will know their opponent following this weekend's matches.

IS IT POSSIBLE? YES: It is possible that the Cardinals could earn a share of the MIVA regular season title and earn the No. 1 seed. But only if the following happens: Sharing the MIVA title would require two wins for Ball State and two losses for Loyola. Ball State earning the No. 1 seed would take the above happening, plus Ball State winning the tiebreaker, which would be beating Loyola in three sets, or beating them in four and having the advantage in total points. Beating the Ramblers in five would give Loyola the tiebreaker and the No. 1 seed.

SCOUTING LOYOLA CHICAGO: A win by the Ramblers in either of their final two matches, or one loss by both Ball State and Ohio State, would clinch the outright MIVA regular season title. Loyola Chicago comes to Ball State Thursday with an overall record of 21-4 and stand at 11-1 in MIVA action. The Ramblers lone loss in conference play came against Purdue Fort Wayne in five sets on March 18 in Fort Wayne. Loyola Chicago is led offensively by Parker Van Buren with 368 total kills for the season and he is averaging 4.04 kills per set which ranks fifth nationally. Defensively, Nicodemus Meyer averages 1.28 blocks per set which ranks third nationally.

SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE: PFW is one of the Cardinals longest rivals and will come to Worthen Arena for senior and alumni night Saturday for a 7 pm ET first serve. The Mastodons arrive in Muncie with a 16-10 overall record and currently own a 7-5 conference ledger. Ball State defeated PFW in Fort Wayne Feb. 18 in a five-set thriller. The Cardinals' defense played a big role in that win as BSU set the program record in total blocks in a single match (26.5). It was also the third-most in NCAA rally scoring history. PFW is led by Jon Diedrich who is averaging 3.79 kills per set.

SCOUTING BALL STATE: The Cardinals are ranked 11th in the nation after sweeping their second-straight MIVA weekend in a row with wins over Quincy (3-0) and Lewis (3-2). Ball State sits in second in the MIVA with a 16-8 overall record and a 9-3 ledger in conference play. Leading the Cardinals offensively is Kaleb Jennes at 3.67 kills per set.

MIVA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Ball State has won the MIVA Tournament title a total of 15 times (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002 & 2022).

Men's Volleyball Wraps up MIVA Regular Season Play at Home This Weekend

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