Ball State men's volleyball sweeps Queens, advances to MIVA semifinals

Ball State's Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) men's volleyball tournament title run in 2022, its most recent championship effort opened with a Saturday night match inside Worthen Arena. The top-seeded Cardinals defeated the eighth-seeded Quincy Hawks in three sets to advance to the semifinals.

The Red and White's 2024 playoffs began in a strikingly similar fashion. Ball State, the No. 1 seed in the MIVA tournament, faced the eighth team in the conference standings in another Saturday night matchup and had a parallel result.

The Cardinals defeated Queens (9-21, 2-14 MIVA) in three frames (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) at home in the MIVA quarterfinals, marking the red and white's fourth straight victory in the first match. round of the league tournament.

I knew Queens was going to come in and be ready to go,” Ball State head coach Donan Cruz said. Eventually we started wearing them, and that's what you saw in sets two and three.

Ball States' first-round sweep of Queens is not an isolated event, as the Cardinals posted two 3-0 victories over the Royals in both regular season games. Cruz acknowledged that it is sometimes difficult to motivate the red-whites to prepare intensely for a team they have already had success against, while also mentioning his efforts to combat pre-match apathy.

I think we did a decent job preparing the guys to not take anything lightly,” Cruz said. It's more about playing on the home field with a certain sense of pride, and if you do that, then I think it takes away that lackadaisical approach to playing against a team that we think is better.

Although Ball States' hitters got off to a slow start in the opening moments of the first set, the Cardinals' offense picked up its production as the match progressed and was central to the winning effort.

The red and white recorded 34 kills with a .355 hitting percentage, which marked the 18th time Ball State eclipsed the .300 threshold this season. Senior outside hitter Trevor Phillips and junior outside hitter Tinaishe Ndavazocheva led the Cardinals in kills, as they recorded 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

Ball States' strong offensive production intersected with notable marks on the defensive end and on the service line. The Cardinals recorded six blocks en route to holding the Queens to a .203 hitting percentage, and they fired six service aces.

After triumphing in its first MIVA tournament game, Ball State (21-9, 13-3 MIVA) advances to face Lindenwood (15-11, 9-7 MIVA) in the semifinals. A victory in their second playoff game would allow the Cardinals to advance to the championship game two days later, making next week the most critical period of the campaign for the team.

Given that an NCAA Tournament bid will be achievable in the coming days, Cruz emphasized the intensity with which he and his team will prepare the Cardinals for their big week of play, but said he hopes the Reds and white will keep the same place. mindset that he stuck to all season.

“We value simple over complex and we try to get guys to keep our routine working,” Cruz said. We know Lindenwood has had a good streak, but a lot of their streak has taken place at home when they are in their gym. You feel good having them here at home.

As the remaining top seed in the conference tournament field, Worthen Arena will host the semifinal games and the following championship. Ball State earned the right to host last season's MIVA tournament final, a game it dropped to Ohio State on its home court.

The bitter end to last year ignited a mood among the Cardinals roster to reverse their fortunes. Ndavazocheva, who anchored the 2023 roster that fell in the MIVA title game, emphasized her and her teammates' focus.

Next week is going to be very difficult, starting Monday, Ndavazocheva said. Even tonight, people aren't doing anything crazy. They go home and, you know, rest because we know how important that is.

Middle blocker Rodney Rogers, who transferred to Ball State this season after spending three seasons at Lindenwood, said he is especially excited for the upcoming game week because he has never made it past the first round of the tournament MIVA as an old school.

“This is my first time in a conference tournament, so I really don’t know what it’s going to be like,” Wallace said. But I know the rest of the guys on the team and the coaches know what to do. I'm just here for a ride.

Although outside hitter Patrick Rogers, recently named to the All-MIVA first team, and middle blocker Vanis Buckholz did not face Queens, Cruz said the Cardinals would likely benefit from their services as they eye a championship conference next week.

Contact Adam Altobella with comments on X @AltobellaAdam or by email at [email protected].

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