With two wins in its final matches of the season, the men's volleyball team moved into the third seed in it's conference tournament.
The Cardinals (18-8, 11-5) played well on consecutive nights, something head coach Joel Walton said it hadn't done all season. They beat conference opponents Mercyhurst and Ohio State, both in three sets.
In the first match, BSU dominated hapless Mercyhurst (7-17, 1-12), 30-24, 30-21, 30-23. The Cardinals had a hitting percentage of .357, while holding the Lakers to .023.
Senior outside attacker Josh Zuidema led the Cardinals with 13 kills and a .474 hitting percentage against Mercyhurst.
The Cardinals then traveled to Ohio State seeking revenge on a 3-2 loss to the Buckeyes in Muncie earlier in the season. The winner of the match would also claim the third seed in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.
In one of its best hitting games of the season, Ball State beat the Buckeyes (15-10, 11-5) in dramatic fashion. The Cardinals won the first two games 30-28 and 30-22, but it took extra points to win the third.
With the score tied at 32, Zuidema smashed one of his 12 kills to put the Cardinals up one. Zuidema then combined with senior middle attacker Matt Denmark and junior setter Keith Schunzel for a triple block that ended the game, 34-32.
Ball State hit .458 in the match, with Denmark hitting .714 with 10 kills and seven blocks. Senior outside attacker Kyle Weindel and junior outside attacker Jary Delgado both finished with 14 kills.
The wins were big for Walton for multiple reasons. The three-seed means the Cardinals will play Quincy (9-13, 5-9) in the first round of the MIVA tournament rather than IPFW (11-8, 8-6). Ball State beat Quincy in both games this season, while it split two with IPFW.
Walton also said he wanted the third-seed because it means the Cardinals won't have to play league-leading Lewis until the finals of the tournament.
The wins also showed Walton that his team can play well on consecutive nights on the road, something the Cardinals must do to win the MIVA championship. Not to mention the victories give the team momentum heading into the tournament.
The Cardinals open MIVA tournament play Saturday at 7 p.m. against Quincy in Worthen Arena. The semifinals and finals of the tournament will be held at the highest seeded school left after the first round April 25 and 26.
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