The single most important men's volleyball match of the season comes to Worthen Arena tonight as the No. 12 Loyola Ramblers visit the No. 9 Cardinals at 7:30 in the match of the only two undefeated teams in Division I.
"If this is the team I think it is this year, our guys are pumped," coach Joel Walton said. "We're really looking forward to this opportunity and excited to be playing in Worthen Arena in a situation where we are the only two undefeated teams throughout the entire country and we get to host the match."
Last season the Ramblers came to Ball State as the No. 10 team in the nation and beat the Cardinals 3-1 (30-21, 30-25, 24-30, 30-24). This year Ball State has different intentions.
"I'm excited for the match," Walton said. "I think our guys are going to go out and show just what this team is made of and that we've got a lot to prove. We're gunning for a Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship and I really like the team we've got and I think were very capable of achieving that goal."
One advantage the Cardinals may have is the spacial illusion playing in a larger arena such as Worthen. The Ramblers gym, Alumni Gym, is similar to playing in a gym like our own Ball Gym.
The two teams both stack up well in the rosters and Ball State has seen many of the Rambler players.
"We've seen all the guys they're playing this year," Walton said. "Their opposite, Chris Kozlarek, is their leading attacker who wanted to play for us but we didn't recruit him."
Kozlarek hit 11 kills in the Ramblers' victory over George Mason last weekend. Ball State was the school of preference for a few of the Ramblers but the Cardinal coaching staff did not recruit them.
"The key to this team is their serving," Walton said. "They have focused on that the last few years. One of our game plan points this week was passing."
Without forgetting about their Saturday evening match against Mercyhurst (2-6), the Cardinals' focus has been squarely on the huge match against Loyola.
"Once we get done with the match on Friday, we'll talk to the guys about Mercyhurst, and have a walk through Saturday morning," Walton said.
The home crowd advantage could not be expressed enough. The Cardinals have the opportunity to get a big MIVA conference win at home in front of their loyal fans. Coach Walton has talked about how imperative it is to get wins on the road. On the road is nice, but at home is 'must win.'
"We've been pretty tough on our guys this week," Walton said. "They need to understand the kind of mentality they have to approach the match with. We want to go out and take charge with good defense and offense play from the start. We want to look across the net and see a little bit of fear from the Loyola team."
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