Things are looking up for the men's volleyball team.
After losing a season-high five match losing streak and falling down from its stay atop the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, No. 8 Ball State (15-6 overall, 9-1 MIVA) is back to leading the league as it has nearly all season.
The Cardinals dropped to second place in the MIVA after a Friday loss to No. 12 Lewis. Lewis suffered its second conference loss at the hands of No. 14 Loyola-Chicago Tuesday. With that match, Ball State is again in front of Lewis for attaining the right to host the MIVA championship.
"The great thing about (the loss) is that it puts us back in sole possession of first place, but it's not a given," head coach Joel Walton said. "There are still six matches left to play, and for us to continue to stay in control (of) our destiny, we have to win all those matches."
Two of those remaining six are this week. After completing its six-match road trip this weekend, the Cardinals return to Worthen Arena to face Clarke on Thursday. The two teams have yet to meet this season and Clarke is winless in 10 conference tries, 6-14 overall. Walton, however, sees the match as a "challenge."
"The battle with playing Clarke is making sure our guys focus on executing on our side of the net," Walton said. "The challenge is going to be keeping the guys motivated. We can't let them lull us to sleep."
As the regular season draws to a close, Walton says every match is important. Of the five teams Ball State plays, only two have winning records. The other three have a combined 5-27 record and with the MIVA tournament so close, Walton says the Cardinals are looking to reach a certain level in order to accomplish its goals this season and cannot afford to slack off against teams that are not highly competitive.
"We are at a point in the season where we need to keep building," Walton said. "(We want to) build to a crescendo and we don't want to come out and play sloppily because we're playing a team that is not playing all that well."
Thursday's match against Clarke starts at 7 p.m. The Cards host No. 13 Ohio State Saturday.
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