Despite being out of the national rankings for the majority of the year, the Ball State University men's volleyball team finished the season in the top 15 coaches poll.
The Cardinals received 36 votes and dropped one spot to No. 14 in the final coaches poll released Monday.
Ball State (19-11, 7-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) had seven fewer votes than in the final regular season poll after its loss to Ohio State University in the conference tournament semifinals. This was the fourth consecutive season the Cardinals were eliminated by the Buckeyes, who won the MIVA championship and advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
After starting the season at No. 11 in the preseason coaches poll, Ball State had a season-opening loss to then-unranked Loyola University to drop out of the rankings.
The Cardinals received votes in the poll but remained unranked for 10 straight weeks before returning to the top 15 coaches poll in late March after a sweep against then-No. 3 Cal State Northridge University.
This is the ninth straight season Ball State has been ranked in the final coaches poll. The Cardinals highest final ranking during that stretch was at No. 8 at the end of the 2002 season.
Ball State was one of three MIVA in the final coaches poll.
Ohio State received 100 votes — 11 more votes than in the previous coaches poll — to remain the highest ranked MIVA team at No. 10 after winning its third consecutive MIVA championship. Loyola, which lost to Ohio State in the conference championship game, received 44 votes to move up two spots and leapfrog Ball State at No. 13 in the poll.
Final coaches poll
1. Stanford (24-6) — 240 votes
2. BYU (22-9) — 214 votes
3. Cal State Northridge (23-10) — 206 votes
4. Hawai'i (19-10) — 190 votes
T-5. Penn State (24-8) — 169 votes
T-5. Pepperdine (16-10) — 169 votes
7. USC (16-11) — 147 votes
8. UC Irvine (15-15) — 126 votes
9. UCLA (16-13) — 110 votes
10. Ohio State (22-8) — 100 votes
11. UC Santa Barbara (13-16) — 80 votes
12. Long Beach State (12-17) — 67 votes
13. Loyola (20-6) — 44 votes
14. Ball State (19-11) — 36 votes
15. UC San Diego (11-19) — 24 votes
Others receiving votes: Lewis 3
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