Ball State University
Lees-McRae College
Men's Volleyball Hosts Lees-McRae Thursday, Maryville Friday
January 22, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, Lees-McRae 0 (1/5/18)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 2-1
No. 7 Ball State (3-3) vs. Maryville (0-2)
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, Maryville 0 (1/13/22)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 1-0
This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: This week the Cardinals remain at home, welcoming Lees-McRae College on Thursday and Maryville University on Friday. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET.Â
Last Serve: Last week the Cardinals hosted BYU for two matches in Worthen Arena. Both matches forced five sets with the Cougars able to do just enough to pull off the 2-0 sweep. Match one looked like the Cardinals would pull off the upset, starting the match up 2-0 (25-23, 27-25) on the BYU team. However, the Cougars battled back to take the final three sets (25-15, 25-19, 15-12) and get the win. Match two started a little differently, as Ball State and BYU split the first two sets (25-22, Ball State; 26-24, BYU). The Cardinals took the advantage in the third frame (25-22), but the Cougars were once again able to battle back in the finals two sets (25-27, 15-9) for the victory. Rajé Alleyne, Patrick Rogers, Tinaishe Ndavazocheva and Braydon Savitski-Lynde were consistent leaders for the Cardinals in both matches. Alleyne totaled 29 kills, four aces and four blocks, followed by Rogers who totaled 28 kills, one ace and six blocks.Â
First Serve vs Lees-McRae: Lees-McRae last visited Worthen in 2018 for the Cardinals' season opener. Ball State swept them 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-10), holding the Bobcats below 20 points in each set.Â
First Serve vs Maryville: This will be just the second time these two teams meet on the court. In their first matchup, the Cardinals swept the Saints 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-13) while hitting an impressive .506 average.Â
Scouting Less-McRae: The Bobcats are currently 0-2 on the season, most recently coming off a 3-0 loss to Quincy. They currently average a .124 hitting percentage. Lincoln Scofield leads the team's offense with 16 kills and an ace on the season. Thiago Da Silva leads in assists with 45, as well as blocks with four. Lees-McRae will take on Long Island University (LIU) on Wednesday, Jan. 22 before heading to Muncie for Thursday's match.Â
Scouting Maryville: The Saints are 0-2 on the season with losses from MIVA foes Lewis and Loyola. They fell in a 3-0 sweep to Lewis, but were able to take one from the 12th-ranked Loyola team in a 3-1 loss. The outside hitter Makai Scott currently leads the team in kills with 30 on the season, averaging 4.29 kills per set and hitting .362 from the floor.Â
Coach Cruz: Ball State head coach Donan Cruz enters his fourth season at the helm of the Cardinals and owns an overall record at BSU of 67-26 (.720) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, three MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Preseason All-MIVA:Â Â The 2025 roster welcomes back many well-known faces and also offers several exciting new additions. Two impactful returners include senior outside hitter Tinaishe Ndavazocheva and junior outside hitter Patrick Rogers. Ndavazocheva and Rogers were named to the Preseason All-MIVA team, along with Cardinal newcomer Rajé Alleyne. Alleyne, the opposite senior transfer from Quincy, brings a wealth of experience at the net. Last season, Alleyene led the MIVA in kills per set (4.41) and in points scored (421.5), averaging 5.08 points per set. He also earned First Team All-MIVA honors and AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. Â
Looking Ahead: Following Friday's match against the Saints, Ball State will welcome Tusculum to Worthen Arena for two matches on Thursday (Jan. 30) and Friday (Jan. 31). Friday's match will be Hometown Heroes Night. First serve will be at 7 p.m. ET both days.Â
