Following Wednesday's win, coach Joel Walton said he wants his team to remain outside of the men's volleyball national rankings because of what that does for his team.
Ball State University defeated No. 11 Loyola-Chicago University 31-33, 30-27, 30-19, 34-32 at Worthen Arena to pick up its third consecutive win against nationally ranked teams in less than three weeks.
"I hope they never put us in the rankings this year because my guys get really fired up about that and we play with a lot to prove and I don't ever want them to be satisfied," Walton said. "I'm pleased with the motivation we've had in the last few matches."
Outside attacker Patrick Durbin had a match-high 23 kills against the Ramblers (6-6, 3-2 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), including six in game four. In the last three matches against top-15 teams Durbin is averaging a team-high 20 kills.
"I think they should just keep us out of it so every game we play is an upset," Durbin said. "It's just a number. It kind of helps build our name a little bit but we know how good we are and that's all that really matters."
Along with Durbin, outside attacker Todd Chamberlain had 16 kills, matching his Friday total in win against No. 8 Ohio State University.
Walton said Chamberlain played well on Wednesday, especially in game four when Loyola assigned its setter Kyle Exline to block the outside attacker.
Trailing 25-22 and coming out of a timeout in game four, Chamberlain had five kills during the remainder of the final game as the Cardinals (10-6, 5-1, MIVA) won the game and match in overtime.
Chamberlain said although in the timeout the coaching staff didn't tell the team to set him up, he had an advantage in game four hitting against Exline, who is two inches shorter.
Chamberlain also said Loyola is a good team, but he would not classify the win as an upset.
"I don't view that we've had any upsets this season," he said. "It's considered an upset because they are ranked higher than us but I don't think they are a better team than we are. I don't know if we are going to be ranked or not but I really don't care. That's just something for people to look at."
With Wednesday's win, Ball State is 3-6 against top-15 ranked teams this season. The Cardinals will play six more matches against nationally ranked teams during the regular season, with the next match against No. 6 UCLA on Feb. 29 at Worthen Arena.
In addition, the Cardinals are tied for first place in the MIVA, but hold the head-to-head tie-breaker against the Buckeyes. Loyola is now two-and-half matches out of first place and is tied with Lewis University for third place.
Walton said Ball State has successfully protected its home-court throughout the MIVA season and is a contender to win its first conference championship since 2002.
"We're in a situation now with Ohio State, Loyola, Lewis and IPFW where the team that can go on the road and come away with victories is going to be the team that wins the conference championship this year."
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