MVB Opens Postseason With MIVA Quarterfinal Matchup Versus Northern Kentucky

Saturday, April 18

Muncie, Ind.

7 pm

Ball State University

Northern Kentucky University

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Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics

MVB Opens Postseason With MIVA Quarterfinal Matchup Versus Northern Kentucky

April 16, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

No. 7 Ball State Men's Volleyball (22-4; 13-3 MIVA) vs Northern Kentucky (5-18; 2-14 MIVA)
MIVA Tournament Quarterfinal vs. Northern Kentucky	Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Tickets
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This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: The Ball State men's volleyball program opens postseason competition Saturday, April 18 as it hosts Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinal of the 2026 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament inside Worthen Arena. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. ET.

Last Serve: The Cardinals claimed its fourth MIVA regular season championship in five years on April 11 after completing a sweep over No. 9 Loyola Chicago (25-22, 25-20, 25-16), avenging a straight-set loss from earlier in the season (March 5) and solidifying home court advantage throughout the tournament. After falling behind 4-1 early, Ball State seized control behind a strong opening set from Patrick Rogers, who finished with a match-high 16 kills on .500 hitting. Ryan Louis added 10 kills, while Daniel Günther recorded five kills and a match-best four blocks. The Cardinals extended their lead in the second set with the help of consecutive aces from Jacob Surette and maintained control throughout, hitting .727 as a team in the final frame with just one error to secure the sweep.

Ball State began the week versus No. 16 Lewis, falling in a five-set thriller (25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-18). Rogers led with 21 kills, while Louis had 18 kills and a career-high four aces. Lucas Machado dished out 52 assists and added a career-best 14 digs. Defensively, Victor Scherer posted a season-high 19 digs and Louis recorded four blocks. The Cardinals claimed the first and third sets, including a .400 hitting effort in the third, but Lewis responded in the fourth and edged Ball State in a tightly contested fifth set that featured multiple ties and lead changes before the Flyers closed it out with back-to-back points.

Rogers 2026 MIVA Player of the Year: As the leading attacker for the No. 1 seeded Cardinals, Patrick Rogers was recognized as the 2026 MIVA Player of the Year, announced by the league Thursday afternoon. The New Jersey native leads the conference this season in kills (3.90) and points (4.56) per set, ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.404) and ninth in aces per set (0.37). Throughout the 2026 campaign, Rogers was named the conference's offensive player of the week on three occasions (Jan. 27, March 30, April 14).

Iandolo 2026 MIVA Coach of the Year: With a conference regular season championship in his first year as head coach, Mike Iandolo was named the 2026 MIVA Coach of the Year. At the helm of the program, Iandolo marched the Cardinals to a 22-4 regular season record and a No. 7 national ranking, which includes 10 ranked wins and a MIVA-topping 13-3 conference mark. Ball State reached a stretch of 13 consecutive home victories in 2026, the 10th-most in the program's history. As a unit, Ball State leads the league in hitting percentage (.376), as well as assists (12.27) and kills per set (13.44). As the fifth head coach of Ball State, Iandolo became the fourth in the program's history to win a regular season championship in his first year in the position.

All-MIVA: The Cardinals placed four members onto All-MIVA teams this season, with Patrick Rogers and Lucas Machado being named first team while Ryan Louis and Braydon Savitski-Lynde were named second team.

Rogers earned his third-career first-team honor, leading the conference in kills (3.90) and points (4.56) per set, while ranking fourth in hitting percentage (.404) and ninth in aces per set (0.37).

Machado directed Ball State's offense to a program-record .376 hitting percentage, totaling a career-best 843 assists in 2026 to move into eighth all-time at Ball State (2,366), while averaging 9.94 assists per set and earning both MIVA Defensive Player of the Week (Feb. 3) and AVCA Player of the Week (Feb. 17) recognition.

Louis sees his first All-MIVA award, being named to the second team after contributing greatly to the Cardinals' offensive and defensive fronts. The Arizona native ranks fifth in the league in kills (3.33) and points (4.13) per set, seventh in hitting percentage (.323) and blocks (0.84), and 11th in aces per set (0.36). His 72.0 total blocks lead Ball State this season. The sophomore had 15 matches this season with double-digit kills, including a career-high 25 versus Missouri S&T (Jan. 9).

Savitski-Lynde was a standout defensive presence in 2026, being named to his first All-MIVA team with a second team honor. The junior is fifth in the conference in blocks per set (0.86), totaling 67.0. He had five matches this season with five or more blocks, including a season-best six versus Maryland Eastern Shore (Jan. 30)

MIVA Tournament History: In the MIVA, Ball State holds the second most championship titles with 39 total, earning 24 regular season championships and 15 tournament championships. The program's last tournament title came in 2022 as it swept in-state rival No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne, being awarded a No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament --the highest in program history.

Rogers AVCA POTY Semifinalist: Senior outside hitter Patrick Rogers was named as one of eight members to the semifinalist list for the first ever 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. The final four will be named prior to the start of the 2026 National Collegiate Championship. The 2026 AVCA Player of the Year is to be revealed at the NCAA social event in Los Angeles before the semifinals on May 8.

Machado Climbs the Record Book: Junior setter Lucas Machado has tallied 843 assists so far in 2026, raising his career total to 2,366 and placing him eighth in the program's record book for career assists. He needs 240 more to move up to No. 7, which is occupied by Quinn Isaacson (2018-2022) who had 2,606. As the primary general of the floor Machado has guided Ball State to a .376 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.

Welcome Back Palilonis: NKU head coach Jim Palilonis is no stranger to Ball State, as he played a key role as an assistant with the Cardinals where he helped guide the program to 15 winning seasons, five 20-win campaigns, and a 2002 NCAA Final Four appearance while overseeing setters, offensive strategy, and recruiting. During his tenure, the 1996 BSU graduate also contributed to the women's program's 2010 MAC title and 2011 NCAA Tournament berth.

Match History - NKU: The Cardinals saw two straight-set wins over NKU this season, first taking three sets at Regents Hall on Feb. 21 (25-21, 25-18, 25-22). Ball State then defended Worthen versus the Norse on April 2 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17).

Scouting NKU: Going 2-14 in conference play during its inaugural season, the Norse finished eighth in the MIVA standings, picking up its only wins in a series sweep over Queens (March 26 and 27). With five total wins on the year, NKU has also seen victories over Thomas More (Jan. 23), Maryland Eastern Shore (Feb. 12) and Central State (Feb. 13). On the road, NKU is 1-8.

Northern Kentucky has claimed just one set win since achieving its victories over the Royals, dropping 12 of 13 frames played in the month of April so far. That sole set win came in NKU's most recent contest at McKendree on April 11, which it lost in four.

As a unit, NKU ranks last in the MIVA in all statistics except blocks (7th: 1.63/set) and digs (6th: 8.16/set).

Individually, the Norse's attacking is led by junior outside Griffin Wheatly who averages 2.71 kills per set (16th MIVA) on .206 hitting. The defense is paced by sophomore middle blocker Adam Blair, who leads the team with 0.76 blocks per set (11th MIVA), and Will McElveen who leads the team in digs with 1.51 per set (17th MIVA).

Looking Ahead: With a win on Saturday, Ball State will host its semifinal matchup on Wednesday, April 22nd versus the winner of No. 17 Ohio State and No. 13 McKendree.

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 week's action, the Cardinals are the highest ranked MIVA team, sitting at No. 7 with 335 votes.