Ball State University
Loyola University Chicago
No. 12 Ball State Hosts No. 9 Loyola Chicago Friday
March 06, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
| No. 12 Ball State Men's Volleyball (13-5; 6-2 MIVA) vs No. 9 Loyola Chicago (13-2, 5-2 MIVA) | |
| Match 19 vs. Loyola Chicago (6-9; 1-5 MIVA) | Friday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m. ET Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Game Notes | Ball State | Loyola Chicago |
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No. 12 Ball State (13-5, 6-2 MIVA) vs Loyola Chicago (13-2, 5-2 MIVA)
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, Loyola Chicago 2Â (4/4/24)
Series History:Â Loyola Chicago leads the series 33-17
This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: Ball State will host No. 9 Loyola on Friday, March 7 for a 7 p.m. first serve.Â
Last Serve:Â
• The Cardinals opened the week on the road at Quincy. Ball State was able to defeat the Hawks 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-23) to move to 6-2 in conference play.Â
• In his first match against his previous school, Rajé Alleyne put up 14 kills, two aces and four blocks.Â
First Serve vs Loyola Chicago:
• Last season, Ball State went 2-0 over the Ramblers, breaking a five match loosing streak to the Chicago-based team. The Cardinals won the first match at home 3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 25-23), then defeated Loyola Chicago on the road in a 3-2 (25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 18-25, 15-11) thriller. That was only the second time in program history the Cardinals were able to take down the Ramblers in Gentile Arena.Â
• Patrick Rogers, Tinaishe Ndavazocheva and Braydon Savitski-Lynde were consistent leaders against Loyola-Chicago last season, each recording double digit kills in both matches. Â
• The Cardinals are 14-11 at home against the Ramblers.Â
Scouting Loyola Chicago:Â
• The Ramblers are coming off a 1-3 (20-25, 21-25, 25-23, 20-25) loss to Lewis at home on Thursday, February 27. That was the Ramblers' second conference loss, the first coming from a 2-3 (24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 13-15) fall to McKendree earlier in the season.Â
• Loyola Chicago leads the conference in numerous categories, including points earned (17.44/set), hitting percentage (.346), assists (12.16/set), kills (13/set) and aces (1.95/set).Â
• The Ramblers are also second for blocks, averaging 2.55 blocks per set with a total of 168.5 so far this season.Â
• In the NCAA, Loyola Chicago has the seventh highest hitting percentage at .346 (741-204-1554). The Ramblers are also ranked fourth for assists, fifth for kills, sixth for blocks and eighth for aces, remaining a consistent top 10 team in many aspects of the game.Â
• Senior outside hitter, Parker Van Buren, is an overall leader and playmaker for the Ramblers, leading the MIVA in kills (4.36/set), service aces (.53/per set) and points (5.26/set). Van Buren also has the second highest hitting percentage at a .396 (240-50-480) clip. In the NCAA, Van Buren is ranked third for kills, ninth for aces, second for points and is tied at 16th for hitting percentage.Â
• Junior setter, Ryan McElligott, leads the MIVA in assists at 497, averaging 10.80 assists per set. McElligot is also second to Van Buren for service aces with 21 at an average of .46 aces per set. In the NCAA, McElligott is ranked fourth for assists and 20th for aces.Â
• Defensively, senior middle blocker, Nicodemus Meyer is second in the conference for blocks, totaling 65 with an average of 1.14 blocks per set. Meyer's numbers put him seventh in the NCAA.Â
Ball State in the MIVA:Â
• The Cardinals lead the conference in blocks, averaging 2.507 blocks per set with a total of 173.Â
• The team is also ranked second for points and hitting percentage. Ball State currently averages 16.45 points per set and has earned a total of 1085.5. For hitting percentage, the Cardinals currently have a .336 (864-257-1808) clip, second only to Loyola.Â
• Ball State is also fourth in the conference for kills, averaging 12.52 per set with a total count of 864 kills so far this season.Â
Ball State in the NCAA:Â
• 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.Â
• As a team, Ball State goes into the week ranked fourth in the NCAA for blocks, averaging 2.507 blocks per set.Â
• Ball State holds the eighth highest hitting percentage in the NCAA and is ranked 11th for kills per set.Â
• The Cardinals are also ranked 15th in the NCAA for assists with an average of 11.52 assists per set and a total of 795.Â
Team Leaders:Â
• Defensively, middle blockers Vanis Buckholz and Braydon Savitski-Lynde are ranked fourth and fifth in the conference for blocks. Buckholz averages 1.021 blocks per set with a total of 48. Savitski-Lynde averages .964 and has recorded a total of 53 on the season.Â
• Senior opposite, Rajé Alleyne, is ranked fifth in the MIVA for kills. Alleyne has 184 kills on the season, averaging 3.61 kills per set.
Coach Cruz:Â
• Ball State head coach Donan Cruz enters his fourth season at the helm of the Cardinals and owns an overall record at BSU of 77-28 (.733) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, three MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.Â
Looking Ahead: Ball State will travel to Hawaii next week for the University of Hawaii's Outrigger Tournament. The Cardinals will open tournament play against No. 3 Hawaii on Thursday (Mar. 13), followed by No. 5 USC on Friday (Mar. 14) and No. 19 Penn State on Saturday (Mar. 15).Â
