The school that ended the men's volleyball team's 2002-2003 season will be the first team the Cardinals face in this year's conference schedule.
The Cardinals lost 3-1 to Loyola-Chicago in the semifinals of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament last April. The match was highly competitive, with the final two games going to extra points. Game three of the match ended 43-41, with Loyola winning.
"If our rosters were more similar to what they were at the end of the season last year, there would be more of a revenge factor," head coach Joel Walton said. "I certainly hope guys use that as an additional motivation for this weekend."
Walton said Loyola is a much different team than it was last season. The Ramblers have four new starters, but Walton said he still considers them to be at the top of the MIVA.
"I look at this year's MIVA race as a five-team race," Walton said. "Between Ball State, Ohio State, IPFW, Lewis and Loyola, any of those teams winning the championship wouldn't surprise me."
The No. 10 Cardinals (6-2) face Loyola (6-3, 2-0 MIVA) Friday and MIVA-opponent Clarke (1-5, 0-5) on Saturday. Clarke is a Division III school and traditionally at the bottom of the conference, but Walton said his team can't let up against the Crusaders.
"Every time (the Crusaders) step on the court against us, they're looking for something to hang their hat on for that season," Walton said. "If they would ever knock us off, they'd be dancing in DuBuque (Iowa, where the school is located) for a long time."
These first conference matches are important because they are at home, Walton said. Five of the Cardinals' first seven MIVA matches are at home, while six of their final nine are on the road.
"We need to maker sure we take advantage of being at home and get this early win so that we're doing the things we need to do to move toward an MIVA championship," Walton said.
"What it's going to get down to between us and those other teams," Walton continued, "is who can win at home and steal enough league matches on the road to win the regular season title."
Walton said that Loyola's players will come into Worthen Arena especially motivated. Three of the Ramblers were recruited by Ball State and wanted to play for the Cardinals but weren't offered scholarships.
The Ramblers' starting middle attacker, Shawn Schroeder, has a brother who attends Ball State, Brant Schroeder. Walton said Brant comes to Ball State matches and is often very vocal. He even jeers his brother sometimes, Walton said.
"There's going to be a little bit of an interesting dynamic just because those guys will probably step on the court with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove," Walton said.
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