MUNCIE — The MIVA runs through Muncie once again.
In a top 10 matchup according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national collegiate men’s volleyball poll, No. 7 Ball State men’s volleyball swept No. 9 Loyola Chicago (25-22, 25-20, 25-16) at home on Saturday, April 11, to clinch the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular season title for the fourth time in the last five years. It marks the 24th regular season title and 39th total MIVA championship in program history while also clinching the top seed and home court advantage for the Cardinals in the upcoming MIVA Tournament.
Just two days before Saturday’s MIVA-clinching match, Ball State lost a five-set match to Lewis for its first home loss of the season. The Cardinals needed a bounce-back win to end the regular season on a high note, and they got exactly that in front of a rowdy Worthen Arena crowd.
“It’s definitely something we talked about,” Ball State head coach Mike Iandolo said. “It’s one of those things all year, when we haven’t played well and had a few matches that we dropped and didn’t enjoy what that felt like, of ‘How do we respond?’ Today just had the added benefit of being senior day and for a regular season championship, but really, the focus was on, we’re going to be better than we were on Thursday, respond well, and get a win for our seniors.
“I think we did a really good job focusing on that.”
Ball State (21-4, 13-3 MIVA) was swept by Loyola (18-7, 12-4 MIVA) in their first matchup of the season on March 5, and the Ramblers came out swinging to start the rematch by taking an early first-set advantage. However, Ball State clawed back to take a 9-8 lead and didn’t trail for the remainder of the set.
“Just had to make a couple of plays,” Iandolo said. “The focus was there, just had to string a couple of points together, and once we did it was like, ‘Okay, hey, what we’re doing is working. Let’s just go.'”
From there, the Cardinals dominated just about every facet of the match. They had six aces compared to just one for Loyola and only nine service errors to the Ramblers’ 13. Ball State posted a .452 attack percentage vs. Loyola’s .300, and the Ramblers had 15 attack errors while the Cardinals only had seven.
Senior outside hitter Patrick Rogers led Ball State with 16 kills, five digs and an ace. A semifinalist for the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Player of the Year, Rogers has become an all-time great for the program in his three seasons as a Cardinal. He cited the home floor as the biggest difference between their first matchup with Loyola and the rematch.
“Being in Worthen is definitely huge, and it’s huge that we won because now we’ll play all our playoff games here,” Rogers said. “The support from the stands and the momentum, we just played a clear game. Our serving was really good, probably the best it’s been all year so far. They were kind of out of system, so it was working well for us as we could get easier digs and transitions.”
Rogers was one of four senior players honored after the match along with middle blocker Eyal Rawitz, setter Griffin Satterfield and libero Victor Scherer. The quartet approached senior day as if it was their final match at home, but their victory ensured that they would get at least one more in the MIVA Tournament.
“I think the whole season, we only lost one home match, so that’s very important for us,” Scherer said. “Now we got a couple of hours, next 24 hours, to celebrate, and then it’s focus on the playoffs.”
The victory gave Iandolo his first MIVA title as the Ball State head coach. An assistant for the Cardinals for four years prior to this season, Iandolo was named the interim head coach on June 27, 2025, following the resignation of Donan Cruz and had the interim tag lifted on Dec. 16 before the season began.
In his first year at the helm, Iandolo led Ball State to its best regular season record since 2022. Players highlighted his personal accountability as a key to his early success and ability to maintain the status quo for a historically great program.
“After Lewis, he kind of took some accountability that he was maybe focused on the wrong things in that game,” Rogers said. “That is huge from a coach. Usually, it’s a player’s that are accountable. When a coach can be big enough to take accountability on that part, it’s huge. He did an amazing job today and was definitely a huge part of our win.”
The MIVA Tournament will begin on Saturday, April 18. The top-seeded Cardinals will host 8-seed Northern Kentucky in the first round. Ball State will also host semifinal and championship matches on the 22nd and 25th, respectively, should the Cardinals advance to those rounds.
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 sweeps Loyola to clinch MIVA regular season title
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
