After beating No. 7 UCLA twice this weekend, the Ball State University men's volleyball team is now reaping the benefits of those upsets, coach Joel Walton said.
The Cardinals (12-6, 5-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) moved up five spots in the coaches poll released Monday and are ranked No. 9.
"It's a ranking our guys have worked hard to obtain and we cannot forget how hard it was to work to get those rankings," Walton said.
Walton, who has a vote in the coaches poll, said he voted the Cardinals into the top 10, but he would not reveal where he placed Ball State in the top 10.
This is the first time the Cardinals have made the top-10 rankings in February since the 2006 season, when the Cardinals were 11-0.
Walton said during Monday's practice he reminded his team about the 2006 season and losing MIVA matches to IPFW and Ohio State University in eight days after moving into the nation's top 10.
"If we want to maintain that ranking we have to keep working hard," Walton said.
Ball State jumped ahead of UCLA in the Monday's poll. The Bruins dropped three spots to No. 10 and are on a four-match losing streak.
In addition, Ball State moved ahead of Ohio State University, which is No. 11 after splitting a two-match weekend series against No. 6 University of California at Irvine, and for the first time this season the Cardinals are highest ranked team in the MIVA.
Along with the Cardinals and Buckeyes, two other teams from the MIVA were ranked in the top 15. Loyola-Chicago University moved up one spot to No. 12 and IPFW remains at No. 15.
Walton said despite being ranked the highest in the conference, he doesn't think there is an expectation throughout the nation for the Cardinals to win the MIVA. He also said the ranking reflects the Cardinals being in first place in the conference.
Ball State's next match will be against IPFW on Friday in Forth Wayne.
The Mastodons are fifth in the MIVA and two-matches behind the Cardinals for first place.
"They have nothing to lose and they are going to be motivated," Walton said. "They are not out of the regular season race, and they are backed into the corner."
AVCA top-15 rankings
1. Penn State (14) 18-02. BYU (2) 14-13. Cal State Northridge 14-44. Long Beach State 13-25. Pepperdine 8-56. UC Irvine 10-107. Stanford 13-68. USC 9-99. Ball State 12-610. UCLA 10-911. Ohio State 9-612. Loyola 10-613. UC Santa Barbara 7-1014. George Mason 10-615. IPFW 8-6
*First-place votes in parentheses
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