Worthen Arena court remained empty and quiet for the majority of Friday morning.
One day before playing in the conference championship match, there were no volleyballs flying around the arena, the nets were not set up and no players were running around the court. Instead, the Ball State University men's volleyball team simply went to its locker room for about a 90-minute film session.
Already having played No. 10 Ohio State University five times the last 13 months, there was not a whole lot coach Joel Walton needed his team to practice on the court in preparation for its Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament title match at 7 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.
"At this point in time what we are going to accomplish on court is just making sure guys are fresh," the 11-year head coach said. "I don't want to sap anymore of their energy reserve and let them put all their energy into the match."
Walton said the video session went well and his team was focused following its win in the semifinals the previous night. The coach also said he will probably have one more film session this morning before the team makes the two-hour bus ride to Columbus.
Ball State is 1-4 in the last two season against Ohio State, including getting swept in last season's conference championship match.
Competing against the Buckeyes so many times, senior outside attacker Todd Chamberlain said the team knows what to expect every time the two teams play each other.
"We know who they are going to have out there. We know what it takes to win these matches, and we also know what they are going to be doing against us," Chamberlain said. "We know what we are going into."
This will be the third time in less than two months - the third time the teams have played three matches against each other in that time span since 1994. In their two regular season matches this season, Ohio State defeated Ball State both times in five games.
Despite Ball State having more than a .400 attack percentage in the fifth game and out-hitting Ohio State throughout the match, the Buckeyes won the decisive fifth game 15-12 in their first match March 11. Playing less than three weeks later, Ball State blew a two-game lead at home - including a 15-10 loss in game five - and was eliminated from winning the MIVA regular season championship.
"In both matches we thought we had ample opportunities to win, and we didn't take advantage," middle attacker Andy Nelson said. "Everyone knows beating a team three times in a season is tough. So we are going with that mentality that the pressure is on them to beat us a third time and to know that they barely beat us the two other times."
With the two teams having played so recently, Walton said it becomes difficult to make adjustments because of the amount of scouting each team has done on the opponents.
The coach said he probably will make some adjustments to counteract the changes Ohio State made midway through its last match to set more balls to its outside attackers and not rely on its middle attackers. Walton said, though, he expects any changes he makes to be met with a change from Ohio State coach Pete Hanson.
"It's hard because they know they studied us and we've studied them. It's a real interesting chess match," Walton said. "The best thing either team can do is run a variety of attack options and keep other teams off balance."
Ball State enters this match after rallying from a two-game deficit to defeat No. 12 Lewis University in the MIVA semifinals Thursday. After that match, Ohio State also advanced to the championship match with a sweep against No. 13 Loyola University.
In the victory against the Flyers, outside attacker Lee Meyer came off the bench to play in the final four games and had a season-high 10 kills, including four kills in the fifth game. Right outside attacker Eric Schulte also entered midway through the match and had five kills.
Walton said Thursday that it would be a game-time decision to start Meyer and Schulte or the usual starting outside attackers Matt Sprague and Dominic Spadavecchio.
"We will watch warm-ups and go with what group is the best," he said. "The good news is both have played well in later parts of season."
If Ball State wins this match it will advance to play in the NCAA Final Four in Provo, Utah, on Thursday.
This would also be the team's first conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002. A win would also end the Cardinals' longest time they have gone without a MIVA championship in the program's 45-year history.
"There's definitely excitement around that, but this is where we hoped to be all season," Nelson said. "This is what we worked for all season. [Thursday's] win was great but it doesn't mean much if we don't show up."
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