The No. 14 Ball State University men's volleyball team is looking for some charm as it will play No. 10 Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne for the third time this season. The Cardinals will play in Loyola University Chicago's Alumni Gym today in the semifinal round of the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament.
"I'm hoping that our guys come in with a type of behavior and a cockiness," coach Joel Walton said.
The Cardinals have met the Mastodons twice this season and fell in close battles both times. In the previous matches, IPFW got key points that gave them the eventual match. The Cardinals are the third seed in the tournament while IPFW is the second overall seed and the two will play on a neutral court. Ball State has seen the strengths and weaknesses of IPFW and will look to capitalize.
"We've seen them twice and we have a better idea of what they like to do," Walton said. "We definitely want to do a better job of digging their middles tomorrow night. Our guys have an understanding of what [IPFW's] strengths are, and we're going to try to limit those strengths."
As the season winded down the Cardinals stared a fourth seed in the face and would possibly play the number one seed in the semifinal round.
"The nice thing is that we won our last match against Ohio State [University]," Walton said. "By winning that match and taking the third seed, we play IPFW in the semifinal instead of playing the host school. It doesn't mean that IPFW is an easier opponent than Loyola but at least were getting them on a neutral court."
Ball State has been looking to this weekend since the beginning of the season and they know the best team will keep playing and the losers will go home early.
"Practice Wednesday was pretty good," Walton said. "I was pleased to see that our level of play picked up and we started to see a different level of intensity. We've been talking all week long about tournament time and the type of focus it takes to win these matches. You've got to be able to find your rhythm and get out and still execute at a high level."
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