The key to winning the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season title, according to men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton, is winning on the road.
In the meantime, the No. 8 Cardinals have to get two conference wins at home this weekend.
Ball State (10-2, 4-0 MIVA) faces one of its toughest weekends of the season when it faces Ohio State on Friday and Quincy on Saturday. The Buckeyes are one of five teams Walton said could win the MIVA, while Quincy is right on the cusp of a title.
"If there was a team in our league that was sixth or was just outside of that group of five, it would be Quincy," Walton said.
Walton said the Buckeyes are dangerous because they are a team with potential that has had bad luck so far this season. Ohio State is 8-5 overall, but a disappointing 3-2 in the MIVA. Walton said the Buckeyes will come into Worthen Arena with a sense of urgency to win.
"We're going to have to exert our will onto them and show them that we are the better team," Walton said.
Freshman outside attacker and team leader in kills Nick Meyer is primed to play Ohio State for another reason. After he grew up in Cincinnati as a huge Buckeyes fan, Ohio State showed no interest in him as a volleyball player.
"It's a big match for me," Meyer said. "I wasn't recruited by them in my home state. I want to go out there and show them what they missed."
Meyer said his sister will attend Ohio State next year.
When Walton made his team's schedule last year, he made it so the Cardinals played tougher teams on Friday and the not-so-tough ones on Saturday. So far, he said, his team has played well on Fridays, but has let down its play on Saturdays. This concerns Walton, especially, he said, when Quincy (5-5, 2-1 MIVA) is the best of the least in the MIVA.
"We've got two really good opponents on back-to-back nights," Walton said. "We really have to be ready to play two solid matches this weekend."
The Cardinals' win over Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, previously undefeated in the MIVA, on Friday moved them from No. 9 to No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. While Walton wants his team to keep moving up the ranks, his assistant, Kevin Furnish, thinks otherwise.
"Furnish wants us to continually be ranked low because he thinks that's a pretty good motivator for our team," Walton said. "My standpoint, trying to build this program and keep us strong, I want us to be ranked No. 1."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
