Looking for his first Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association title, senior Nick Meyer knows a win against The Ohio State University today would go a long way to reaching his goal.
The No. 15 Cardinals (10-6, 4-1 MIVA) only trail No. 7 Ohio State (15-1, 4-0 MIVA) in the MIVA standings.
The Cardinals have not won a conference title since 2002, two years before Meyer came to Ball State.
"It would be huge [to win a conference championship]," Meyer said. "It's something that I've always wanted. This year is the last opportunity I'll have, so I'm trying to make the best of it."
Meyer said the Cardinals will have their hands full when they take on the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is a good serving team, coach Joel Walton said. Ball State has to make passes off the serves and give the hitters good shots, he said.
The most important thing for the Cardinals is executing their game plan, Walton said. He said the Cardinals do not fear facing the nation's top teams.
"As far as the sport's elite, Ball State doesn't back down from any of those teams," Walton said. "So those are the matches we actually look forward to playing and kind of have starred on our calendars."
In addition to searching for a conference title, Ball State is also looking to make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2002.
Ball State has won 21 MIVA championships and made 15 trips to the NCAA tournament.
Walton said the players often talk about winning a conference title. The players are often reminded about the program's tradition, he said.
"We haven't played in the NCAA tournament since 2002, so we are on a bit of a dry spell and we want to get that corrected," Walton said.
The Cardinals view the regular season as a chance to set themselves up for the conference tournament, Walton said.
A regular season conference title would give Ball State a first-round bye and home-court advantage in the tournament.
"We would like to be able to get a good seed going into the tournament, where hopefully we're not going to be running up against the best team in our conference [early in the tournament]," Walton said.
A loss today would put Ball State two games behind Ohio State in the conference standings. The Cardinals would then need help to have a shot at winning the league title.
However, Ball State is not looking too far in advance, Meyer said.
"It's a long season, so we just have to take it one game at a time," he said. "We just have to focus on this game and focus on its repercussions."
Last season Ball State split its two matches with Ohio State, with both teams winning on the road.
Walton said this year's match is critical because of the battle for the conference lead. The desire to win will determine the outcome of the match, he said.
"A team is going to come out with the eye of the tiger and really battle and make plays and feed off the energy of those plays," Walton said. "Whichever team is able to do that is going to walk away with the victory."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
