Eight months after meeting in the conference championship match, the Ball State University men's volleyball team and Ohio State University remain atop the conference entering 2010.
Ball State received 43 votes to finish in second place and one vote behind first-place Ohio State in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association preseason poll released Wednesday.
The Buckeyes and Cardinals have played each other the last two seasons in the MIVA championship match, with Ohio State sweeping both matches to advance to the NCAA Final Four. Both teams also return a majority of their starters after finishing last season ranked in the final top 15 coaches poll.
Ball State coach Joel Walton said because of the two team's recent history, Ball State is becoming a little more focused on Ohio State.
"Certainly losing those championship matches our guys are going to be focused on them this season. A couple years ago our primary focus was IPFW when they won a couple of championships," Walton said. "However, to put together a body of work and get into that championship match you have to play consistent and can't look passed any opponent."
The MIVA preseason poll is voted on by the seven head coaches in the conference. Ball State received three first-place votes, while Ohio State received the other four first-place votes.
Despite the two teams getting all the first-place votes, Walton said he does think that Ball State and Ohio State have clearly separated themselves from the rest of the MIVA entering this season.
"Going into conference this year, there are a lot of teams that are very capable," he said. "It's going to be a battle to see who comes out on top. It's going to be anyone's game."
Rounding out the poll, Lewis University finished in third place with 35 votes, Loyola finished in fourth place with 31 votes, IPFW finished in fifth place with 21 votes, Grand Canyon University finished in sixth place with 12 votes and Quincy University was predicted to finish in last place with 10 votes.
Ball State will open its season against Loyola on Jan. 15, 2010 in Chicago and will play its first of two regular season matches against Ohio State on Feb. 5, 2010 at Worthen Arena.
Along with the preseason poll, Ball State had three players — libero Billy Ebel, middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic and setter Ethan Pheister — were named to the preseason all-conference team.
Ebel enters his senior season after leading the conference in digs in 2009. In his first season as a starter, Ebel was also named to the conference tournament team.
As a sophomore last season, Gasparovic was named a Second Team All-American and led the conference in both attack percentage and blocks per game average.
Pheister, a senior, finished last season with a 10.98 assists per game average and was named to the All-MIVA Second Team for the second consecutive season.
"This says our guys are getting respect from the coaches with these preseason honors," Walton said. "However, these are preseason awards. There are more important awards to be won this season."
2010 MIVA preseason poll
1. Ohio State — 44 (4) votes
2. Ball State — 43 (3) votes
3. Lewis — 35 votes
4. Loyola — 31 votes
5. IPFW — 21 votes
6. Grand Canyon — 12 votes
7. Quincy — 10 votes
*Parentheses indicate first place votes
MIVA Preseason All-Conference Team
Libero: Billy Ebel, Ball State
Middle attacker: J.D. Gasparovic, Ball State
Middle attacker: Kevin Heine, Ohio State
Outside attacker: Darryl Shank, IPFW
Outside attacker: Nathan Klaas, Lewis
Outside attacker: Kris Berzins, Loyola
Outside attacker: John Klanac, Ohio State
Setter: Ethan Pheister, Ball State
Setter: Mike Iandolo, Lewis
Setter: Steve Kehoe, Ohio State
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