Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Travels to Quincy Friday
February 22, 2024 | Men's Volleyball
No. 13 Ball State (11-7, 4-1 MIVA) |Quincy (5-5, 1-5 MIVA)
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, Quincy 0 (4/15/23)
Series History: Ball State has defeated Quincy in 58 of 63 all-time meetings and has won the last eight.
Setting the Scene:
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 53-19 (.767) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, two MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Match Recap: Ball State turned in a successful two-match Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association victory weekend when it defeated Purdue-Fort Wayne last Thursday night in a 3-0 sweep at home and then finished the weekend on the road with a five-set thrilling win at Loyola-Chicago. With the win over the Mastondons Cruz improved his career record to 8-0 versus Purdue Fort Wayne. Patrick Rogers led BSU with 22-kills that match. On Saturday, Three players reached double digit kills against the Ramblers with Rogers leading the Cardinals charge with 18. Not too far behind Rogers was Tinaishe Ndavazocheva who turned in a 17-kill performance. Rounding out the double-digit kills was Braydon Savitski-Lynde with 11. Your offense doesn't run well without their setter and tonight Lucas Machado was just as efficient at the net dishing out 42 assists running the offense at a .304 clip.Â
First Serve: Ball State sits in a two-way tie for second in the current MIVA standings with McKendree but loses the head-to-head after losing to the Bearcats earlier in the season. The Cardinals play in only one match this weekend before returning home next Thursday (March 1) and Sunday (March 3) against Queens University of Charlotte. The match at Quincy begins at 7 pm ET. The Cardinals last defeated the Hawks in the 2023 MIVA Tournament quarterfinals in Muncie on April 15 by a 3-0 decision. Offensively, Quincy is led in scoring by Race Alleyne with 145 total kills while averaging 4.26 kills per set.
Rogers MIVA Offensive Player of the Week:Â Patrick Rogers led No. 13 Ball State to a pair of wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and then-No. 10 Loyola Chicago. The sophomore outside hitter totaled 40 kills in eight sets for a 5.00 average per set while hitting .395 for the week. Against the Mastodons, he had 22 kills in three sets on a blistering .515 hitting clip then followed it up with 18 kills on .302 hitting in five sets against the Ramblers. He added an ace against the Mastodons.
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.
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.
