The men's volleyball team notched a pair of 3-1 conference victories over the weekend to open its Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association season perfectly.
The No. 10 Cardinals (8-2, 2-0 MIVA) beat Loyola-Chicago 30-27, 28-30, 30-23, 30-18 Friday. Ball State followed by beating Clarke 30-21, 30-24, 28-30, 30-22.
Senior outside attacker Jary Delgado led the Cardinals, compiling 29 kills and 32.5 total points in the two matches.
Ball State split the first two games with Loyola (6-4, 2-1), while hitting .241 in losing game two. The Cardinals responded by winning the final two games convincingly, hitting .417 and .390, respectively.
Overall, BSU hit .348 in the four games, while holding the Ramblers to a .182 attack percentage. Delgado led the Cardinals with 17 kills.
The Cardinals recorded a season-high 17 blocks against the Ramblers. Junior middle attacker Andrew Braley led the team with 4.5 blocks. Delgado and freshman outside attacker Nick Meyer added 3.5 each.
Before the match, head coach Joel Walton called Loyola one of the five teams that could win the MIVA championship.
Ball State held Clarke (1-7, 0-7) to a .137 attack percentage, the second lowest of the season by a Cardinal opponent. Walton played 13 Cardinals in the match because it was Parents' Weekend.
The Cardinals won games one and two before subbing in many new players in game three. BSU lost the game 30-28, before winning game four and the match.
Delgado again led the team with 12 kills. Sophomore outside attacker Evan Berg added a season-high 11 kills and hit .375.
Meyer had nine kills for the Cardinals. It was his second lowest total of the season, his lowest since he killed three balls Jan. 23 against Penn State.
Serving was a weak point for BSU over the weekend. The Cardinals served three aces against 26 errors in the two matches.
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