Ball State University
Stanford University
Men's Volleyball Heads to California for Stanford Matches
January 09, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
No. 5 Ball State (2-0) vs. No. 13 Stanford (0-0)
Last Meeting: Ball State 1, Stanford 3 (1/20/24)
Series History:Â Stanford leads the series 11-1
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 66-23 (.742) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, three MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Last Serve: The Cardinals dominated their opening weekend, sweeping both Wabash College and Trine University. The victory over Wabash was led by senior opposite Rajé Alleyne who recorded eight kills and one block. Tinaishe Ndavazocheva and Patrick Rogers were also difference makers, each with five kills, two aces and a block to close out the night. Rogers carried his momentum into the victory against Trine, leading the team with ten kills, three aces and two blocks.Â
Scouting Stanford: Stanford will open its 2025 season welcoming Ball State for a two-game series. Last season, the Stanford Cardinal finished 14-12 after losing to Grand Canyon in the second round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament. They enter this season ranked 13th in the nation and sixth in the MPSF.Â
Rogers Earns MIVA Offensive Player of the Week: Following an impressive opening weekend, Patrick Rogers was named the MIVA Offensive Player of the Week. Rogers led the Cardinals in their sweeps against Wabash College and Trine University, totaling 15 kills with an average of three kills per set and a hitting clip of .321. To wrap up his strong performance, he also added five aces and three blocks to the records.
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
AVCA Preseason Poll: The Cardinals enter the season ranked #5 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll with a total of 332 points. They will face nine other ranked opponents in the season, including #4 Hawai'i, #6 BYU, #7 Southern California, #8 Penn State, #11 Ohio State, #12 Loyola Chicago, #13 Stanford, #14 Lewis and #20 McKendree.Â
Looking Ahead: Next up, the Cardinals will return to Worthen Arena for a series against the BYU Cougars. Game one is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. ET, followed by game two on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET. Â
