Three members of the Ball State University men's volleyball team received all-conference honors Thursday for their performances in the regular season.
Outside attacker Todd Chamberlain and middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic were named to the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association First Team All-Conference. Setter Ethan Pheister was selected to the MIVA Second Team All-Conference.
"All three of those guys are deserving and key players to us this year," coach Joel Walton said.
As Ball State's senior captain, Chamberlain had a team-high 3.28 kills per game average. He also was eighth in the MIVA with 282 kills, including three matches in which he had at least 20 kills.
After making the MIVA Second Team All-Conference last season, Walton said one of Chamberlain's goals this season was to be selected for the first team.
"It's something Todd has worked for. I know how important it is to him," Walton said. "I'm happy for Todd and he has been able to become a team leader for us."
Gasparovic, the 2008 MIVA Freshman of the Year, led the conference with a .472 attack percentage and 120 blocks. The sophomore was first in the conference and tied for third in the nation with an average of 1.45 blocks per game.
"J.D. is one of the best blockers in the conference and in the country, and that's something to say about a sophomore," Walton said.
This was the second consecutive season Pheister was named to the MIVA Second Team All-Conference. Pheister had the second most aces in the MIVA with 44, including a career-high five aces in a sweep against Carthage College.
Ball State tied Loyola University for the third most players on the all-conference teams. The MIVA regular season champion No. 11 Ohio State University and No. 12 Lewis University each had five players on the two teams.
Lewis outside attacker Drew Pickering was named the MIVA Player of the Year after averaging a conference-best 4.19 kills per game for the second-place Flyers.
Walton said he had Pickering in one of the top two spots on this ballot for the award. The coach also said Chamberlain missed out on being the MIVA Player of Year because of Ball State's third-place finish in conference play.
"I know he was disappointed that he was not the MIVA of the Year," Walton said.
Ball State (16-9, 6-4 MIVA) enters the MIVA Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will play last-place Quincy University in its quarterfinals match Saturday at Worthen Arena.
If Ball State wins the match, it will advance to play Lewis in the conference tournament semifinals Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
Walton said the MIVA Tournament will be an opportunity to prove that his players were snubbed from some of the conference accolades. He also said this especially will be the case for libero Billy Ebel and outside attacker Matt Sprague - two starters who did not receive any all-conference honors.
"I think for those guys especially they will be motivated and want to show that they belong with the conference's best," Walton said.
MIVA Player of the YearDrew Pickering (Lewis)
MIVA Freshman of the YearMike Bunting (Loyola-Chicago)
MIVA Coach of the YearPete Hanson (Ohio State)
MIVA First Team All-ConferenceKris Berzins (Loyola)Todd Chamberlain (Ball State)J.D. Gasparovic (Ball State)Mike Iandolo (Lewis)Steven Kehoe (Ohio State)Robbie Klein (Ohio State)Nick Perakes (Lewis)Drew Pickering (Lewis)Billy Sahagian (Lewis)Ted Schoenfeldt (Ohio State)
MIVA Second Team All-ConferenceJohn Albertson (Ohio State)Mik Berzins (Ohio State)Mike Bunting (Loyola)Robbie Coughlin (Quincy)Ben Duckworth (IPFW)John Klanac (Ohio State)Nick Lamoureux (Loyola)Ethan Pheister (Ball State)Darryl Shank (IPFW)Alex Vigansky (Lewis)
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