No. 8 Ball State Travels to Lindenwood Thursday and McKendree Saturday

No. 8 Ball State Men's Volleyball (9-4; 2-1 MIVA) at Lindenwood / No. 17 McKendree
Match 14 - at Lindenwood (3-6; MIVA 0-3)	Thursday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. ET Live Results \| ESPN+
Match 15 - at McKendree (6-5; MIVA 3-1)	Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. ET Live Results \| GLVC Sports Network
Notes	Ball State
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No. 8 Ball State (9-4; 2-1 MIVA) at Lindenwood (3-6; MIVA 0-3)
Last Meeting: Lindenwood 3, Ball State 2 (4/18/24)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 24-5

No. 8 Ball State (9-4; 2-1 MIVA) at No. 17 McKendree (6-5; 3-1 MIVA)
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, McKendree 2 (4/6/24)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 16-7

This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: After a nine-game homestand, the Cardinals will hit the road again this week to take on Lindenwood and McKendree. Ball State will start in St. Charles, Missouri on Thursday (Feb. 20) before heading to Lebanon, Illinois on Saturday (Feb. 22).

Last Serve:
• Ball State is coming off a two-game series with Lewis where they split 1-1. In the opening match, the Cardinals were able to takedown the Flyers 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23), despite falling in the first set. Braydon Savitski-Lynde and Cameron Gray each played an outstanding match, reaching new career highs. Savitski-Lynde led the team with seven total blocks, a new single-game high, and Gray added a collegiate best of 12 digs.

• Match two set a different tone as Ball State fell to the Flyers 2-3 (25-17, 21-25, 17-25, 25-10, 12-15). Despite the loss, Rajé Alleyne played a stellar game, hitting .523 from the floor and recording a season-high 27 kills.

First Serve vs Lindenwood:
• In the 2024 season, Lindenwood defeated Ball State in the MIVA semifinals 3-2, taking the Cardinals out of the tournament.

• Overall, the Cardinals went 2-1 over the Lions last season, winning the first match 3-2 and sweeping the second match in a 3-0 fashion.

• Ball State currently holds an 8-4 away record against Lindenwood, winning the past three matches in Robert F. Hyland Arena.

Scouting Lindenwood:
• Lindenwood is currently 3-6 overall and 0-3 in MIVA play. Most recently, the Lions lost to #15 Ohio State, taking one set from the Buckeyes before falling 1-3 (12-25, 24-26, 25-22, 19-25). Prior to that, they forced #15 McKendree to five sets, ultimately losing 2-3 (21-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-13, 14-16).

• Lions among the MIVA rankings include Ian Schuller who currently holds the fourth highest hitting percentage at .372 and has the fifth most recorded kills, averaging 3.68 kills per set with a total of 130 on the season. Schuller is also the Lions leading scorer, totaling 107.5 points and with an average of 4.30 points per set.

• Lindenwood is ranked seventh in the NCAA for kills per set at 13 with a total of 442, and ninth for assists per set, averaging 11.91 with 405 assists. The team is also ranked 14th for hitting percentage at .310 (442-151-939).

First Serve vs McKendree:
• Ball State went 1-1 against McKendree last season, winning the final match 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-8) in a reverse sweep.

• These two teams first met in 2014, with the Cardinals sweeping the Bearcats 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-13).

• Ball State holds a 6-5 away record against McKendree, losing its last match in Melvin Price Convocation Center 0-3 (28-30, 23-25, 21-25).

Scouting McKendree:
• No. 17 Mckendree currently holds a 6-5 overall record and is 3-1 in the MIVA. The Bearcats are coming off a 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13) upset over #6 Loyola from last week.

• The Bearcats will host No. 15 Ohio State on Thursday (Feb. 20) before welcoming No. 8 Ball State on Saturday (Feb. 22).

• As a team, McKendree currently leads the MIVA and ranks fifth in the NCAA for digs with an average of 10.22 digs per set and a total of 419.

• Individually, D'Aaron McCraney leads the MIVA with a .455 (76-15-134) hitting percentage. Among the leaders for digs, Yadiel Diaz ranks second, averaging 2.37 digs per set and totaling 97. His average places him 13th in the NCAA. Sam Hoskins is close behind, ranking fourth in the MIVA with a 2.09 digs per set average and a toal of 73.

• The Bearcats rank 19th in the NCAA for assists, averaging 11.56 assists per set with a recorded total of 474. They also rank 19th in kills, averaging 12.20 kills per set with a total of 500.

• Nathan Flayter ranks 18th in the NCAA for assists with 404, averaging 9.85 assists per set.

Ball State in the MIVA:
• The Cardinals lead the conference in blocks, averaging 2.70 blocks per set with a total of 121.5.

• The team is also ranked second for points and hitting percentage. Ball State currently averages 16.90 points per set and has earned a total of 760.5. For hitting percentage, the Cardinals currently have a .345 (574-164-1189) clip, second only to Loyola.

MIVA Leaders:
• Tinaishe Ndavazocheva is ranked third in the MIVA and 20th in the NCAA with a hitting percentage of .374 (93-19-198).

• In assists, Lucas Machado is among the top of the conference with the third highest average at 10.19 assists per set, totaling 438. His numbers place him 12th in the NCAA.

• Defensively, Braydon Savitski-Lynde is ranked fifth in the conference and 18th in the NCAA for blocks. He averages 1.08 blocks per set and has recorded a total of 39 on the season .

Ball State in the NCAA:
• Ball State is among the winningest men's volleyball teams in the NCAA. Going into the 2025 season, the Cardinals claimed the fifth highest all-time winning percentage at .701 (1283-546). Loyola was fourth at .701 (577-246), Ohio State third at .703 (1189-502), Penn State second at .755 and UCLA led the NCAA with the highest winning percentage of .793 (1482-387). Ball State was also ranked fifth for the most amount of wins from a program in the last five years with 88 wins and a .704 percentage. Rounding out the top five were Lincoln Memorial with 89 wins, UCLA with 104, Penn State with 106 and Hawaii leading the past five years with 111 program wins.

• As a team, Ball State goes into the week ranked second in the NCAA for blocks per set and sixth for hitting percentage. They also rank 11th for kills per set with a 12.77 average and 17th in assists with an average of 11.58 assists per set.

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 73-27 (.73) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, three MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Looking Ahead: The Cardinals will return home next week (Feb. 27 and Mar. 1) to welcome No. 15 Ohio State and Lindenwood.

No. 8 Ball State Travels to Lindenwood Thursday and McKendree Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Gray

Lucas Machado

Tinaishe Ndavazocheva

Braydon Savitski-Lynde