No. 15 MVB Opens MIVA Play at Home Thursday Against No. 11 Loyola Chicago; Hosts No. 8 Penn State Friday

Thursday, February 1

Muncie, Ind.

7 pm

Ball State University

Loyola University Chicago

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Photo by: Samantha Blankenship / Ball State University

No. 15 MVB Opens MIVA Play at Home Thursday Against No. 11 Loyola Chicago; Hosts No. 8 Penn State Friday

January 31, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

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Series History: Loyola Chicago leads the all-time series 39-25
Last meeting: Ball State 3, Loyola Chicago 0 (4/6/23)

Series History: Penn State leads the all-time series 62-31
Last meeting: Ball State 3, Penn State 0 (1/31/20)

First Serve: Ball State (7-5) is coming off a hard fought 3-1 loss to No. 4 Hawai'i Sunday night in Worthen Arena. The match was so close that the win column could have gone either way. Against the Rainbow, the Cardinals saw three players reach double-digit kills, Braydon Savitski-Lynde (16), Tinaishe Ndavazocheva (16) and Patrick Rogers (13). The match against Loyola Chicago (5-5) Thursday is marks both squads' Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opener. The Cardinals closed out their 2023 MIVA regular season against the Rambler's in Muncie on April 6 resulting in a 3-0 victory for Ball State. After Thursday, the Cardinals return to the floor Friday for a 7 pm ET first serve against No. 8 Penn State.

Scouting Loyola Chicago: The Rambler's own a 12-19 record when playing in Muncie. Second year head coach John Hawks' inaugural season with the Ramblers was a resounding success as the team picked up a share of the 2023 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular season title - its first since 2018. Loyola Chicago was picked to finish second in the 2024 MIVA Preseason Coaches' Poll with 70 total points. Ohio State was picked to finish first while Ball State rounded out the top-three. Parker Van Buren and Nicodemus Meyerwere named to the Preseason All-MIVA Team. It was Van Buren's second-straight year being named to the Preseason All-MIVA Team while Meyer earned the honor for the first time. Additionally, Van Buren was tabbed a Preseason First Team All-American by Off the Block. The Rambler's recently defeated No. 16 George Mason in Chicago by a score of 3-1 on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Scouting Penn State: It has been since 2020 that Ball State has played Penn State which resulted in a 3-0 victory for the Cardinals in University Park, Pa. The Cardinals also won their last meeting over the Nittany Lions in Worthen Arena the year prior by a 3-1 decision. Penn State enters Friday's contest with a 6-2 overall record and are coming off back-to-back wins over MIVA member Ohio State after defeating the Buckeyes 3-1 on Jan. 25 and 3-2 on Jan. 28. Penn State is a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. The Nittany Lions are led offensively by John Kerr with 97 kills and a .352 hitting accuracy from the floor.

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 50-18 (.767) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, two MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

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 open MIVA action at home Thursday, Feb. 1 against Loyola Chicago at 7 pm ET in Worthen Arena. Ball State will then return to non-conference play Friday where they will host Penn State 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.