Cardinals Stay On Top...Again

Ball State secured the top seed in the MIVA in dominant fashion.

Ball State Athletics

The first regular-season champion has been crowned. With their sweep of Quincy, Ball State defended their regular season title. For the third straight year, the Cardinals will enter the conference tournament with home-court advantage for all of their matches. Congrats to the Cardinals and I can’t wait to see who joins them next.

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Three Intriguing Matches

1. Grand Canyon at UCLA - This match has been circled on my calendar for quite a while now. Both of these programs have their sights set on returning to the National Championship. The offensive firepower on the court will be nothing short of legendary.

2. The NEC - I love all of these matches. Even though the NEC is losing a team next year, this is a conference that you need to keep your eye on for years to come. Seriously, just keep watching the North East!

3. Hawai'i at UC Irvine - These two teams had quite the battle a few weeks ago in the Outrigger Invitational. Now they are playing for conference glory. The Rainbow Warriors are still figuring out their new roster so it will be interesting to see how they fare against one of the most dominant pins in the country, Hilir Henno.

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Match Recaps

MIVA

Ball State (96%) def. Quincy (4%)
3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-15)

Purdue Fort Wayne (43%) def. Lewis (57%)
3-2 (25-19, 25-21, 30-32, 19-25, 16-14)

Lindenwood (72%) def. Queens (28%)
3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-22)

Ohio State (78%) def. McKendree (22%)
3-2 (18-25, 20-25, 28-26, 25-18, 15-11)

Non-conference

Maryville (85%) def. Central State (15%)
3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-7)

Thomas More (93%) def. Midway (7%)
3-0 (33-31, 25-16, 25-17)

Daemen (95%) def. Roberts Wesleyan (5%)
3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-16)

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Match Projections

Big West

Hawai'i (55%) vs UC Irvine (45%)

CSU Northridge (4%) vs Long Beach (96%)

UC San Diego (51%) vs UC Santa Barbara (49%)

ConfCarolinas

Barton (25%) vs Erskine (75%)

Mount Olive (71%) vs Emmanuel (29%)

ECC

American International (18%) vs Dominican (82%)

EIVA

Penn State (91%) vs Charleston (9%)

Harvard (25%) vs George Mason (75%)

NJIT (22%) vs Princeton (78%)

MPSF

BYU (70%) vs Southern California (30%)

Stanford (84%) vs Concordia (16%)

Grand Canyon (23%) vs UCLA (77%)

NEC

Saint Francis (87%) vs D'Youville (13%)

Fairleigh Dickinson (47%) vs Merrimack (53%)

Long Island (74%) vs Sacred Heart (26%)

SIAC

Fort Valley State (73%) vs Kentucky State (27%)

Non-conference

Maryville (8%) vs Ohio State (92%)

Master's (1%) vs Pepperdine (99%)

Edward Waters (74%) vs Webber International (26%)