MIVA Standings
Ball State - 7-1 (2-0)
IPFW - 7-2 (2-0)
Ohio State - 6-2 (2-0)
Loyola (Ill.) - 7-0 (0-0)
Lewis - 8-1 (0-0)
Grand Canyon - 5-2 (0-0)
Quincy - 5-4 (0-2)
Lindenwood - 2-3 (0-2)
McKendree - 3-5 (0-2)
With wins over two of the three last place teams in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Ball State men's volleyball team is one of five teams ranked in the nation's top 15 teams.
"The conference opponents that we're gearing up towards just keep getting tougher and tougher," head coach Joel Walton said. "The good news is we've been able to handle our first two conference matches this weekend, we need to learn from that and get as polished as possible."
On Jan. 30, Ball State defeated Quincy, dominating all three sets.
Despite the same resulting score, the match against Lindenwood was competitive.
"We came into the game with our attitude a little flat, and we weren't connecting," senior outside attacker Matt Sutherland said. "People were feeling sore from yesterday, so it was the mixture between the soreness and the tiredness from the whole week."
At 2-0 in league play, Ball State sits in a three-way tie with IPFW and Ohio State for first place.
Both teams, along with Loyola and Lewis, are ranked ahead Ball State in the AVCA national rankings. Loyola and Lewis are currently the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the country, respectively.
Walton knows the level of competition coming up in the Cardinals schedule.
One advantage the Cardinals do have early in their conference schedule is the fact that they play IPFW, Lewis and Ohio State at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals look to build on their impressive start to the season, playing five of their next six against MIVA opponents.
"We've never started off playing as well as we are now," Sutherland said. "Usually we start out kind of flat, then we have a better rest of the season. I think we're going to have a really good season."
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