Friday's Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association semifinal match pits the men's volleyball team against Loyola in a rematch of last year's semis.
The Cardinals, however, hope this year's outcome will be different. Last season, Loyola beat Ball State 3-1.
"You think about it a little bit," senior setter Keith Schunzel said. "But this is a different Loyola team, and we're a different team."
Ball State head coach Joel Walton said that, while last year's loss might be inspiration for the players who were on the team, the Cardinals have to focus on Friday's match.
"I haven't focused on it with the guys," Walton said. "We've talked more this week about the things we need to do to beat this year's Loyola team."
First and foremost for the Cardinals is passing. Loyola serves the ball hard and fast, which can make it difficult to make a good pass, Walton said. The Ramblers have four players among the top 18 in the MIVA in service aces per game.
"We've got to be ready to pass the kind of serves that they're serving, which are primarily jump serves, and still be able to side out at a high percentage," Walton said.
Ball State struggled at times passing the ball in the conference quarterfinals against Findlay. Because Loyola will serve much tougher than the Oilers, Walton said, the Cardinals practiced primarily on passing fast serves this week.
Schunzel said if the Cardinals can take away the Ramblers' serving advantage, they should do well Friday.
"Loyola's number one thing is to serve the crap out of balls," Schunzel said. "If we can pass and stay in system, I really think we'll probably win the match."
One advantage Walton said Ball State will have is playing in Ohio State's spacious gym. Loyola plays in a small gym with a low ceiling. When the Ramblers serve a fast-paced ball, it bounces high in the air and hits the ceiling when a player digs it. The offense is then left guessing where the ball will come down. Ohio State's gym has a higher ceiling, so Walton doesn't see high balls being a problem.
Walton will start senior Amitai Sasson at outside attacker Friday. Although Sasson struggled against Findlay and was replaced in game two, Walton said he favors the senior because of his experience. He is also going with Sasson because the Ramblers haven't seen him at outsider attacker.
In the teams' matchups this season, Sasson played at libero. It wasn't until after Ball State's loss at Loyola on March 12 that Walton switched Sasson to the outside.
"Even if they've seen (Sasson at outside attacker) on tape, you don't get a feel for a team until you play against them," Schunzel said. "Because he's a senior, and he's played a lot of volleyball, he won't get rattled too easily by pressure.
"We'll have three senior starters, which is nice to have."
Walton said he has practiced with a combination of lineups this week so he has the option of bringing in new players and mixing things up on the court Friday.
"Flexibility is one of the strengths that our team has," Walton said. "IF we put a lineup on the floor and somebody's not playing well, we do have the ability to put in another player and move things around a little bit and give whatever opponent we're playing a different look."
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