MUNCIE — Ball State men’s volleyball will have a chance to sweep the MIVA regular season and tournament championships for the second time in the last five years.
The 1-seed Cardinals swept 4-seed McKendree (25-23, 25-18, 25-21) in a Men’s Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) semifinal match at Worthen Arena on Wednesday, April 22, to clinch a spot in the MIVA tournament championship. Ball State will look to sweep both MIVA titles for the first time since 2022 and the 14th time in program history.
“We’ve been prepping for this all season,” sophomore opposite hitter Ryan Louis said. “At the beginning of the year, we had a team meeting and set our goals from the very start: win the MIVA regular season, win the MIVA Championship, win the natty. So far, we’ve got one down, and we’re one simple win from the next goal.”
Ball State got off to a hot start with a fast 6-1 lead in the first set, but McKendree stormed back to within a point and eventually tied it at 20-20. Back-to-back kills from Louis and senior outside hitter Patrick Rogers recaptured some momentum for the Cardinals, and they held on to win the first set by two.
“We stayed steady,” Ball State coach Mike Iandolo said. “We didn’t panic. I don’t think I used a timeout or a challenge. We didn’t let ourselves get too high, too low, too emotional. We didn’t let the match flow dictate our emotions. We just kind of stayed steady, which is another thing that we’ve been talking about.
“If we do that, we take care of the ball, we’re pretty good at volleyball, and it’s a challenge for teams to beat us if we’re not beating ourselves.”
Ball State got strong contributions from players, young and old. Rogers, the 2026 MIVA Player of the Year, tallied 16 kills, three total blocks, and two aces, while Louis logged 11 kills and eight digs. Freshman middle Daniel Günther and sophomore outside hitter Wil Basilio also made some highlight plays and finished with six kills apiece.
The Cardinals have dealt with some injuries this season, so the young players stepping up with their best volleyball in the postseason has been a welcome sight for Iandolo.
“The guys are close off the court too, which makes it so much fun for them,” Iandolo said. “Our practices are super competitive, and our second level of guys do a really good job as well. When I look at the bench to put in guys, young, old, starters, non-starters, it doesn’t matter because I know everybody can contribute when we need them to. It’s a good feeling.”
Rogers commended his young teammates’ play and expressed confidence that they would continue to make Ball State a championship-caliber program.
“I want this program to be good for as long as possible, and to see that for the next couple of years is awesome,” Rogers said. “To get this experience this year with Braydon (Savitski-Lynde) going down, they’re filling in so, so well. Hopefully, Braydon comes back soon, but for now, we feel comfortable with either of them.”
Ball State has now won three consecutive matches in three sets. The Cardinals swept Loyola Chicago in the regular season finale on Saturday, April 11, to clinch the MIVA regular season title, then swept Northern Kentucky in the tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, April 18.
The winning streak was preceded by a five-set loss to Lewis on Thursday, April 9, that cost Ball State a perfect record at Worthen Arena. While it hurt to miss out on that accomplishment, the loss came at the perfect time for the Cardinals to draw lessons that have carried over into postseason play.
“It’s about playing how we need to play, and that’s what we’ve got to focus on,” Iandolo said. “When we lost to Lewis, we let the moment get a bit too big, and we tried too hard. We’ve just got to keep it focused on playing good volleyball and just win. Be the first to 10, first to 15, first to 20, win the first set, win the second set, just got to stack that stuff, and we usually end up with results we want.”
Ball State will host the MIVA Championship at Worthen Arena on Saturday, April 25, against the 2-seed Loyola Chicago, who swept the 6-seed Lewis at home shortly after Ball State swept McKendree. The Cardinals and Ramblers split the regular season series, with each team sweeping the other at home.
Ball State will have home-court advantage on Saturday, and the Cardinals are focused on keeping things simple and staying together as they prepare for round three against the Ramblers.
“I think, in times like this, it matters most to play together,” Louis said. “I think we’ve been able to show it these last couple of games. We’re playing as one team. We’re not individual players playing our spot. We are Ball State men’s volleyball, and we are playing as one team. They come into our gym, they’re playing our game, nothing else. We play how we know to play, swing hard, swing deep, make defensive plays, make serves, make blocks, all that stuff. You play our game.”
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@usatodayco.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State men’s volleyball clinches its spot in MIVA Championship
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
