Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
University of Southern California
No. 14 Men’s Volleyball Competes at First Point Collegiate Challenge This Weekend
January 18, 2024 | Men's Volleyball
The Cardinals will play No. 13 USC Friday and No. 8 Stanford Saturday
MATCH INFO:
No. 14 Ball State (7-2) vs. No. 13 USC (4-0)
2:30 PM ET | Austin, Texas
No. 14 Ball State (7-2) vs. No. 8 Stanford (4-0)
5 pm ET | Austin, Texas
First Serve:
The Cardinals open the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, Texas against No. 13 USC on Friday at 2:30 pm ET. USC leads the all-time series record 8-2. The last time the Cardinals and the Trojans played was on March 15, 2003 in Los Angeles, Calif., resulting in a 3-1 win for Ball State. After Friday, the Cardinals are set to close out the tournament against No. 8 Stanford on Saturday at 5 pm ET. Saturday marks the 12th meeting all time versus Stanford. Stanford leads the all-time series record 10-1 with the two teams last meeting occurring in Pal Alto, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2019 resulting in a 3-0 loss for BSU.
Coach Cruz:
Ball State head coach Donan Cruz enters his third season at the helm of the Cardinals and owns an overall record at BSU of 50-15 (.767) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, two MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Last Serve:
Ball State is coming off of a four-match win streak which started with a 3-0 victory over UC San Diego last Thursday in Worthen Arena. The Cardinals then earned two victories over Tusculum and one against Trine to close out its four-match competition at home. Leading the way so far this season for the Cardinals is Nathan Goh and Patrick Rogers with 51 kills apiece.
Preseason All-MIVA:
The 2024 roster is a good mixture of some familiar faces along with several newcomers. One of the Cardinals returnees is sophomore outside hitter Tinaishe Ndavazocheva who was recently named to the 12-member preseason All-MIVA conference team. Ndavazocheva turned in quite the rookie season for the Cardinals last year. He earned MIVA Offensive Player of the Week honors and Off the Block National Honors on Feb. 7. He turned in a career high 27 kills against Lewis (2/9) and had 22 double digit kill performances in 2023. Ndavazocheva ended the season ranked second on the team in kills (342) and in points (397.5). He also received All-MIVA First Team honors and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American.
Up Next:
The Cardinals will have a little break before returning home on Sunday, Jan. 28 to take on national powerhouse Hawai'i in Worthen Arena at 7 pm ET.
The Legend Don Shondell:
The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association has announced changes to the MIVA Tournament format. The conference has also announced that future tournament winners will receive the Don Shondell MIVA Championship Trophy.
The MIVA Tournament has been played after every regular season since 1980 except 2020, and was also played from 1964-69. The new format for the MIVA Tournament will reward the highest seeds, providing an advantage for a path to the NCAA tournament via the MIVA's automatic bid.
The opening round of the eight-team tournament will be played at the higher four seeds. No. 1 will host No. 8, No. 2 will host No. 7, No. 3 will host No. 6, and No. 4 will host No. 5.
The semifinal and final rounds will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the field. The field will also re-seed. The highest remaining seed will host the lowest remaining seed and the other two teams will play in the other semifinal. The two winning teams will play in the final match for the Don Shondell MIVA Championship Trophy.
The new namesake for the MIVA Championship Trophy was inducted into the inaugural class of the MIVA Hall of Fame in 2017. His impact on the conference is unmeasurable. He co-founded the MIVA and served as its first president. As the head coach of the Ball State Cardinals, he won 20 championships in 34 years with 14 trips to the NCAA tournament. He finished with a career record of 769-280-6 (.732), which is the second-most wins in NCAA men's volleyball history. He was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983, Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1996, and AVCA Hall of Fame in 2003.
The path to the MIVA title and the chance to hoist the Don Shondell MIVA Championship Trophy begins on April 13. The semifinal will be on April 17 and the title match will be on Saturday, April 20.
