The men's volleyball team hoped to increase its conference rank over the weekend, two weeks before the start of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament.
Instead, Ball State was handed another MIVA loss at IPFW Saturday night. The Mastodons beat the Cardinals (16-8, 9-5) in straight sets, 30-24, 31-29, 30-25, to put them a game and a half behind Ohio State for the third spot in the conference.
The weekend was not a complete wash for the team as it picked up a win Friday against defending NAIA champion William Woods at home. The Cardinals squeaked by the Owls in five sets, 30-18, 30-22, 29-31, 25-30, 15-13.
Before the weekend, head coach Joel Walton was concerned his team wouldn't be fresh for the IPFW match after facing William Woods on Friday. After the two teams went the full five sets, Walton was even more concerned about how his team would play in Fort Wayne.
After Saturday's loss, however, Walton said his team didn't look fatigued, it just played poorly.
"It was a combination of serving and passing," Walton said. "They out served us and out passed us. That was the difference in the match."
Walton's emphasis for his team in the last month of the season has been on playing complete matches on consecutive nights, which it must do to win the MIVA championship. The team has yet to play solid matches on back-to-back nights, he said.
"(The IPFW match) showed some recurring problems for our team," Walton said. "We haven't been able to go on the road against a strong opponent and play at our best."
Even though the Cardinals lost a half-game in the MIVA standings, Walton said the loss wasn't critical because the team remained in fourth place.
A win against IPFW would have locked up the fourth spot for Ball State, guaranteeing them a home game in the first round of the conference tournament. Now, the Mastadons (12-8, 9-6) are a half-game behind Ball State.
Friday's match was also Senior Night for the Cardinals. If the team doesn't finish fourth or higher in the conference, it will have been the last home game for seniors Matt Denmark, Josh Zuidema, Josh Lee, Kyle Weindel and Josh Hall.
Zuidema and Denmark led the team in its final regular season game at Worthen Arena. Zuidema had 19 kills, while Denmark added 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .324.
There is still a chance for Ball State to climb the league standings as high as third place. In order to do so, they would have to beat Mercyhurst and Ohio State on the road Friday and Saturday. They would also need to beat Ohio State in four sets or less.
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