The men's volleyball team heads into the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association quarterfinal match at home Saturday with two players on All-MIVA teams.
Evan Berg, junior outside attacker, was named to the All-MIVA First Team, and Nick Meyer, sophomore outside attacker, was named to the All-MIVA Second Team.
Berg has a .223 hitting percentage, 299 assists and a team-high 261 digs for the season.
"Evan Berg has certainly been our most consistent and reliable player all year long," head coach Joel Walton said. "His ball control skills have been vital to our team's success this year, both digging and passing."
Meyer received honors despite missing six matches because of an injured ankle, leads the team in kills with 319 (.228 hitting).
"Nick, prior to getting injured, was showing on a nightly basis he was developing into the go-to guy we hoped he would become," Walton said.
Meyer will help lead the Cardinals against Mercyhurst in the first round of the MIVA tournament at Worthen Arena. The Cards defeated the Lakers in both their regular-season matchups.
However, injuries are again taking their toll on Ball State. Berg's status is questionable because of a sore knee, and Scott Bushong, junior middle attacker, will most likely not play because of an injured ankle, Walton said.
The team, especially the starters, has also struggled in practice.
"There's been some stuff going on in practice this week where it seems our guys are a little bit stale," Walton said. "I really think when we get out on the court our guys are going to show up and play some great volleyball."
BSU will also have to keep control of its passing to win.
"The first priority for our team is to pass more jump serves and stay in our offense," Walton said. "The serve for them is the most important thing in their defense."
In Mercyhurst's offense, Dave Schmidl and Austin Siewert, who were both named to the All-MIVA Second Team, lead the Lakers in kills for the regular season with 332 (.317) and 231 (.413), respectively.
If the Cards win the match, they will advance to next weekend's semifinals at Loyola.
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