Win or go home.
There is no cliche that better suits the men's volleyball team in its current situation. Putting its 20-win regular season behind them, the Cardinals will work toward acquiring what has eluded all the players during their college careers: an MIVA championship.
No. 8 Ball State finished its regular conference season tied for first place with No. 9 Loyola-Chicago. Both teams own MIVA records of 14-2, which gives each a share of the MIVA regular-season title.
The Cardinals won the tie-breaker and the tournament No. 1 seed by winning more games (5-4) against Loyola than losing in their matches against each other.
With the No. 1 seed, Ball State has the opportunity of hosting the final two rounds of the tournament, a privilege head coach Joel Walton is grateful to have, considering the team's perfect 13-0 home record.
Walton is approaching the end of his fourth season and expressed his happiness with the team's play during the regular season. He again emphasized, however, that the team's prize is not in hand quite yet.
"I'm really pleased with what the guys have done this season," Walton said. "We 're in a good position and the guys have worked hard to get us there, but we're not there yet. We still have some things to accomplish."
As the No. 1 seed, the Cards will face No. 8-seed Mercyhurst (6-20, 3-13). Against Mercyhurst, Ball State has won both matches this season in sweeps, including a 30-23, 30-18, 30-16 victory this past Friday.
Walton said that although the mountain-top will be easier for Ball State to reach this season, the team must understand how different hosting a tournament match will be compared to hosting a regular-season match.
"Our guys need to realize (the tournament) is going to be a different animal," Walton said.
"Even though we are going to be playing at home, that's elimination time.
"We can expect some teams that haven't played very well here to be extremely competitive because it's win or go home. Some teams with upperclassmen are going to fight tooth and nail to keep their season going and we need to come in with that same kind of tenacity."
Ball State's first tournament match is Saturday at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena. Tickets are $3 for children and Ball State students and $5 for the public.
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