MVB Continues I-69 Rivalry at Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday

Friday, February 27

Muncie, IN

7 pm

Ball State University

Purdue Fort Wayne

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Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics

MVB Continues I-69 Rivalry at Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday

March 19, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

No. 9 Ball State Men's Volleyball (17-3; 8-2 MIVA) vs No. 19 Purdue Fort Wayne (9-7; 4-5 MIVA)
Match 21 vs. No. 19 Purdue Fort Wayne	Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
Game Notes	Ball State \| PFW
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Next Point - A Ball State Sports Link Documentary Series	Episode 1 \| Episode 2

This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: The Ball State men's volleyball program looks to sweep the 2026 regular season series against in-state rival Purdue Fort Wayne as the Cardinals travel to battle the Mastodons at the Gates Sports Center March 21 at 7 p.m. Action Saturday evening will be streamed on ESPN+.

Last Serve: The Cardinals evened the season series against Ohio State, defeating the Buckeyes in four sets (25-20, 26-28, 25-18, 25-23) last Thursday (March 12) at Worthen Arena. Patrick Rogers led the Cardinals with 16 kills on .419 hitting, while Ryan Louis added 11 and Braydon Savitski-Lynde had seven. Setter Lucas Machado guided a .440 team hitting performance with 44 assists, along with five kills, five digs, and a career-high four aces. Daniel Günther anchored the defense with five blocks as Ball State out-blocked Ohio State 10-5. The Cardinals controlled the first set, dropped a tight second after a late Ohio State rally, dominated the third behind a .600 hitting clip, and closed out a back-and-forth fourth set with late kills from Günther and Machado.

17-3 in the Iandolo Era: After taking the reigns of the program this past summer, head coach Mike Iandolo has marched the Cardinals to a 17-3 record to begin his first year in the position -- the team's best winning percentage since Iandolo's first year as an assistant coach in 2022, ending 23-4. The dominant campaign led to a conference regular season and tournament championship, as well a No.2 national ranking and national semifinal appearance.

Unbeaten at Worthen: At 12-straight wins inside Worthen Arena in 2026, Ball State is three wins away from completing the regular season with an unblemished record at home for the first time since the 2002 team went 13-0. That year's team ended the season 16-0 inside Worthen, taking three wins to claim what was the program's 14th MIVA tournament championship. The 2002 season was in the middle of a 26-match home streak that stretched from March 16, 2001 to Jan. 31, 2003. Including last year's 3-1 Senior Day win over McKendree (March 29), Ball State currently holds a 13-match streak on its home court which sits as the 10th-longest in program history.

Machado Climbs the Record Book: Junior setter Lucas Machado has tallied 646 assists so far in 2026, raising his career total to 2,169 and moving him up to ninth in the program's record book. As the primary general of the floor Machado has guided Ball State to a .377 hitting percentage, and if maintained, it would serve as the best team clip in program history. The current all-time percentage is .373, averaged in 1997.

Rogers AVCA POTY Watchlist: Senior outside hitter Patrick Rogers has been named as one of 15 members honored in the first ever watchlist for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year award. The inaugural watch list was compiled by the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Awards committee. Semifinalists for the award are to be announced in early April, and the final four will be named prior to the 2026 National Collegiate Championship May 9-11. The 2026 AVCA Player of the Year is to be revealed during the championship banquet.

Match History - Purdue Fort Wayne: The Cardinals hold the upper hand against the Mastodons in the all-time series, leading the I-69 rivalry 85-34. In matches held in Fort Wayne, Ball State has taken 35 of the 51 played. BSU completed a sweep over PFW in the teams' first meeting this season (Feb. 27), leading the entire way through sets one and three and limiting PFW to a .203 clip. In the last 10 matchups, Ball State boasts a 9-1 advantage.

Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne: At seventh place in the conference, the Mastodons are 1-2 in their last three matchups since the teams' previous meeting, falling to Lewis (March 5) and Ohio State (March 14) while besting Loyola in between (March 7).

As a unit, PFW is ranked sixth in the MIVA in hitting percentage (.283), assists (11.13/set), kills (11.90/set) and blocks (2.16/set). The Mastodons are also seventh in digs (7.72/set), aces (1.25/set) and points (13.99/set).

Individually, the team's attacking is led by junior opposite Logan Muir who is placed second in the MIVA in kills (3.59/set) and sixth in aces (0.43/set).

The defensive effort is paced by junior opposite Kaden Fosdick who ranks fifth in the MIVA in blocks (0.90/set). Junior lilbero Andrew Mayer is 11th in the conference in digs, averaging 1.70 per set.

AVCA Top 20 Poll: Ball State entered the 2026 season ranked #16 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll with a total of 144 points. Heading into this weekend, the Cardinals sit at No. 9 with 298 votes. The only MIVA team ranked higher is No. 7 Loyola Chicago (314).