The men's volleyball team will end its regular season this weekend at home when it plays Loyola and Rutgers.
The No. 15 Cardinals will face off against Loyola, which was ranked No. 8 last week, in the BSU's last conference match at 7 p.m. today. Loyola (24-2, 14-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) leads the MIVA, while BSU (15-13, 10-5 MIVA) will go into the tournament in third place.
Loyola suffered its first conference loss last weekend to Ohio State, which ranks second in the MIVA.
Ball State dropped a match to Loyola in February 3-0, but setter Dave Carlson sat out with an injured back.
"I feel like when we lost to them at their place earlier in the year, we weren't able to play at our best," head coach Joel Walton said. "We were still learning what this young team was about and capable of, and we've figured a lot of that out since then."
Walton said the team has prepared for Loyola by working on passing jump serves, which the Ramblers excel at.
Poor passing caused Ball State to lose the third game at its match at IPFW last week. The Cards overcame that to win the match 3-1, though.
BSU then takes on Rutgers at 7 p.m. Saturday. Ball State defeated Rutgers in February on the road 3-2. Although Nick Meyer led Ball State with 25 kills in that match, Walton said he did not plan on starting Meyer for either match this weekend.
Meyer injured his ankle March 21 against Penn State. He saw some playing time against IPFW and Mercyhurst last weekend.
"We're actually at a point where I'm pretty pleased with our starting group," Walton said. "That group is working well."
Walton said Meyer has continued to improve in practice.
"At this point, he is just a weapon in reserve that we will use as needed," he said.
Saturday's game is Senior Night, and middle attackers Andrew Braley and Scott Bushong will be honored.
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