Ball State University
Loyola University Chicago
Ball State MVB Closes Regular Season at Loyola Chicago
April 10, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
| No. 15 Ball State Men's Volleyball (17-11; 9-6 MIVA) vs No. 6 Loyola Chicago (21-2, 12-2 MIVA) | |
| Match 29 vs. No. 6 Loyola Chicago | Saturday, Apr. 12 at 6 p.m. ET Live Stats |  B1G+ |
| Game Notes | Ball State | Loyola Chicago |
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Last Meeting: Loyola Chicago 3, Ball State 1 (3/7/25)
Series History (Since 2002):Â Loyola Chicago leads the series 34-17
This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: No. 17 Ball State will close the regular season in Chicago, Illinois to take on No. 6 Loyola Chicago on Saturday, April 12.Â
Last Serve:Â
• Last week the Cardinals were on the road to face the Buckeyes and the Mastodons. Ball State started the week in Columbus, Ohio trying to complete the regular season sweep over Ohio State. However, the Buckeyes were able to hold off the Cardinals' offense for a 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19) defeat.Â
• Match two was in Fort Wayne, Indiana for a MIVA Indiana showdown.  Purdue Fort Wayne completed the upset for its senior night, beating Ball State 3-1 (25-19, 25-15, 16-25, 25-15).Â
FIRST SERVE VS LOYOLA CHICAGO:
• The Cardinals hosted Loyola Chicago in Worthen Arena earlier this year for the two teams' first matchup of the regular season. Despite winning the first set, Ball State fell to the Ramblers 1-3 (25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 20-25).Â
• Ball State is currently 2-20 on the road against the Ramblers. The Cardinals were able to add their second away win last season when they took Loyola Chicago in five at Gentile Arena. Patrick Rogers and Tinaishe Ndavazocheva were the leaders of the charge, recording 18 and 17 kills respectively.
• The Cardinals are currently 4-6 in their last 10 matchups against the Ramblers.Â
Scouting Loyola Chicago:Â
• Loyola Chicago is currently on an eight-match win streak with the team's last two wins coming over Queens on the road in Charlotte, North Carolina.Â
• The Ramblers' last loss was to Lewis, who upset Loyola Chicago 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20) in Gentile Arena.
• In the MIVA, Loyola Chicago leads the conference in most categories including points (17.52/set), hitting percentage (.365), assists (12.26/set), kills (13.12/set), blocks (2.60/set) and aces (1.80/set).Â
• The Ramblers' numbers place them high in the NCAA rankings as well. The team is second in hitting percentage, third in assists, fourth in kills, third in blocks and seventh in aces.Â
• Redshirt-senior and offensive leader, Parker Van Buren, is a top player in the MIVA and NCAA. He leads the conference in kills (4.24/set) and points (5.06/set) and is second for hitting percentage (.415) and aces (.47/set). In the NCAA, Van Buren is top ten for kills, points and hitting percentage. Â
• Junior setter, Ryan McElligott, leads the MIVA in assists at an average of 10.73 per set. He is fourth in the NCAA.Â
• Senior middle blocker, Nicodemus Meyer, leads the MIVA and the NCAA in blocks at an average of 1.29 per set.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
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 81-34 (.704) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, three MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.Â
Looking ahead:
• The Cardinals will prepare for the postseason, which will begin Saturday, April 19 with the quarterfinals.Â
