Ball State (0-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Maryville (0-1, 0-0 GLVC)
Thursday, January 13 (7:00 PM ET)
Live stats | ESPN+
Series history: first meeting
NEW AGE: The Ball State men’s volleyball program opens the Donan Cruz era Thursday night with a 7:00 p.m. first serve against Maryville… Before Cruz took over from the Cardinals, Cruz was a four-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Coach of the Year at Grand View University… Just the Fourth Head Coach in the storied history of Ball State men’s volleyball, Cruz led the inaugural Grand View men’s team to a 13-13 point in the 2012 season, en route to an overall record of 211-55 with the Vikings… Grand View career finished with the best win percentage in NAIA men’s volleyball history at .793.
ALSO NEW IN THE STAFF: Cruz on the Ball State contributors include the Midwestern Volleyball Association (MIVA) luminary and former star of Lewis University Mike Iandolo and BYU men’s volleyball alumnus Christian Rupert … Iandolo was a two-time All-MIVA First Team roster, spending the last three seasons as head coach at the University of Charleston … Rupert helped the Cougars make a few appearances in the NCAA Division I/II Men’s Volleyball Championship Match , and after a brief professional career, spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Princeton.
SCOUTING MARYVILLE: The Saints go into tonight’s game with an overall record of 0-1 after dropping their season opener to fellow MIVA school No. 9 Lewis by a score of 3-0 on Tuesday, January 11 in Romeoville, Illinois. … Maryville was led by freshman versus hitter Mason Mortimer with five kills.
IN THE POLLS: The Cardinals started the 2022 season in 15th place nationally in the NVA/AVCA Preseason Men’s Division I-II Coaches Poll released on December 20, 2021… Sadly, Ball State dropped out of the final top 15 after its opening weekend, but yet received 27 votes in the poll released Monday (Jan. 10)… BSU only received 20 votes in the Preseason Top 15.
ISAACSON AND JENNESS NEED PRESEASON ALL-MIVA:Graduated Senior Setter Quinn Isaacson and senior attacker from outside Caleb Jenness earned places on the Preseason All-MIVA Team, while the Cardinals were picked to finish fourth in the MIVA Preseason Poll…Last season, Isaacson earned All-MIVA First Team honors for the first time in his career after being named to the second team in 2020… He finished the 2021 season second in the MIVA in assists (800), while averaging 10.81 per set… He also placed fifth in digs (143) and service aces ( 24)… Isaacson also earned All-MIVA Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week of February 23, 2021… This is the second year in a row that Jenness has been named to the preseason All-MIVA squad… Jenness, a two-time All-MIVA First Team honors, was second on team in kills (260) and third in blocks (48) last season…He recorded double-digit kills for the Cardinals in 16 games last year, including a season-best 21 at Ohio State on March 11, 2021 … Jenness was named MIVA Offensive Player of the Week on February 23 for his performance against Lindenwood.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Cardinals continue their five-game season opening on Saturday, when it welcomes Tusculum University to the Worthen Arena for a first serve at 3 p.m. ET. … After that, Ball State will host George Mason (January 21) and No. 1 Hawai’i (January 29 and 31).
CARDINALS SAY farewell to a legend: dr. Don Shondell, an iconic figure in the sport of volleyball who founded the men’s program at Ball State University, died on November 24… He was 92… A graduate of Ball State in 1952 and 1956, Shondell had an illustrious career that was long and varied as a coach , professor and author … He formed the first men’s club volleyball team in Ball State in 1960 and would work tirelessly for the next four years to make men’s volleyball a varsity sport … The team achieved varsity status in 1964, and during his 34 seasons at the helm of the program, Dr. Shondell set a career record of 769-280-6 (0.732), earning him the second most wins by a head coach in NCAA men’s volleyball history… His 769 career wins are the most by a Ball State coach in any sport … dr. Shondell has been awarded the Coach of the Year award eight times from the MIVA, the conference of which he co-founded and first president… Dr. Shondell led Ball State to 19 regular-season MIVA titles, 12 MIVA Tournament championships, and 13 NCAA berths to the men’s volleyball championship.
