If the Ball State University men's volleyball team wins a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Championship this season, it won't happen in Muncie.
No. 15 Ball State (14-11, 6-4 MIVA) was eliminated from first place contention, and subsequently hosting the conference tournament, after losing to No. 10 IPFW 30-24, 30-25, 30-20 Saturday.
"We were extremely average and poor [Saturday], and we struggled in a lot of areas," coach Joel Walton said. "Our passing wasn't good. In general, our offense struggled to pass Fort Wayne's serves.
"We didn't pass well, and once you can't set your middles there are few options. Nick [Meyer] made a few errors on sets that weren't very good."
According to MIVA rules, the team finishing in first place during the regular season hosts the conference tournament's semi-finals and championship game.
Ball State is 3-8 on the road and 0-6 in road matches against nationally ranked teams.
"It's a challenge we want to overcome," Walton said. "I feel that way, and I got to make sure players feel that way and work at it."
Saturday's loss drops the Cardinals into fourth place and one match behind third-place Loyola University-Chicago.
The Cardinals could host a conference tournament first round game if they finish fourth place or higher.
Despite being eliminated from first place, Walton said Ball State needs to win its final two conference matches to better position itself for the playoffs and to avoid playing first-place Ohio State University.
"We still have some things to go out and achieve," Walton said. "If we can win these final two matches, we can most likely be matched up with someone other than Ohio State in the second round."
Saturday, IPFW (17-7, 8-3 MIVA) had three players with 10 or more kills and out-killed the Cardinals 45-33. Meyer led Ball State with 10 kills.
IPFW had seven service aces. In their last two matches, the Cardinals have allowed a season-high 16.
Walton said he is concerned his team is giving up that many serving aces, and part of the problem has been outside attacker Todd Chamberlain's return to the line-up.
Saturday was Chamberlain's second match on active roster since serving a 30-day suspension. Prior to Thursday's match, he missed consecutive seven matches.
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