Joel Walton isn't shying away from the obvious.
"We're supposed to lose this match," the Ball State men's volleyball coach said in an interview Monday. "That's the way it is."
Walton was speaking of course of Ball State's 7 p.m. match with No. 1 seed Ohio State on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament.
Following its quarterfinals win over Grand Canyon on Saturday, Ball State was immediately locked into a role as an underdog. That's the role any fifth seed takes on when its set to play the top seed in the tournament.
Ball State's status as underdog in its next match goes much further than seeding, though.
Ohio State had owned the better half of a one-sided rivalry with Ball State in the last four years, winning the past 11 matchups until March 18 this season. In that time, the Buckeyes have won four straight MIVA Tournament Championships.
Walton is also 0-7 against Ohio State in the postseason since he was hired by Ball State in 1999.
Even fans are cautious about Ball State's chances. Not one bracket submitted into the Ball State Daily News Bracket Challenge last week picked Ball State to upset Ohio State in the semifinals.
With all that in mind, one would think the pressure would be on Ball State to end Ohio State's dominance over the MIVA this week.
Walton doesn't see it that way.
"Ohio State's got way more pressure on them on Wednesday than we do," he said.
To back that up, Walton listed the five first-year starters in Ohio State's lineup, which is comprised of setter Peter Heinen, middle attacker John Tholen, outside attacker Mik Berzins, outside attacker Michael Henchy and libero Michael Piechowski, as reasons that make this year's tournament different from past failures.
"Those kids aren't nearly as battle-tested as the Ohio State that we had to face last year and in previous seasons," he said.
Even though Ohio State has won the last four MIVA Tournaments, the current team's lack of experience is something Walton hopes to expose.
He said his next step is making sure his players have the same confident and relaxed demeanor this week that he has.
"I'm certainly embracing [the underdog role]," Walton said. "I don't want them to go in thinking the world comes to an end if we play a match and get beat by Ohio State. I want our guys to look at it more from the standpoint of what a huge accomplishment it would be for our program to win that match."
Event - Ball State at Ohio State, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Media - Follow Andrew Mishler's live blog at bsudailynews.com as he covers the match.
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