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The MIVA Tournament continues with two nationally ranked teams trying to get home wins to advance to the semifinals.
Lewis with its NCAA Tournament at-large bid hopes on the line will play host to Grand Canyon in the conference tournament quarterfinals. In addition, Ball State will try to reach the MIVA Tournament semifinals for the third consecutive season as it plays Lindenwood.
Check out the college men’s volleyball conference tournament matches to follow tonight.
MIVA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
No. 2 seed Lewis (21-6, 11-3 MIVA) vs. No. 7 seed Grand Canyon (14-17, 2-12 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Romeoville, Ill.
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Season series: Lewis leads 2-0 (won both in three games in April)
Last MIVA Tournament title: Lewis (2012); Grand Canyon (never)
What to know: Lewis enters the postseason with the possibility of becoming the first non-West Coast team in 20 years to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, it faces a must-win match against Grand Canyon to remain in at-large bid content. The Flyers in the latest Off the Block bracketology were projected as the first-team out in the race for one of the two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Lewis finished the regular season on a six-match winning streak, including two home sweeps last weekend against Grand Canyon to clinch the No. 2 seed for the MIVA Tournament. In addition, All-American opposite Geoff Powell had a team-high 22 combined kills in the two victories against the Antelopes. Despite being the No. 7 seed, Grand Canyon has a history of pulling off postseason upsets. The team last season on the road upset Ohio State in the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals for its first postseason win in program history. Outside attacker Ben Ponnet also leads the conference with a 4.17 kills per game average and was named to the First-Team All-MIVA earlier this week.
No. 3 seed Ball State (21-7, 10-4 MIVA) vs. No. 6 seed Lindenwood (19-11, 4-10 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. in Muncie, Ind.
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed, In-match tweets
Season series: Ball State leads 2-0 (won both in four games in February and April)
Last MIVA Tournament title: Ball State (2002); Lindenwood (never)
What to know: Lindenwood’s first postseason match as a member of the MIVA will be against a charter member of the 53-year-old conference. Ball State won 14 of its final 16 regular season matches to secure its second consecutive 20-win season and a home match for the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals. The Cardinals finished the regular season second in the nation with a 3.01 blocks per game average. Middle attacker Matt Leske also had a nation-best 1.61 blocks per game average and was named a finalist for the Off the Block/Springbak National Blocker of the Year. In addition, Ball State in its conference victory against Lindenwood last week held the Lions to a .196 attack percentage — more than 100 percentage points below Lindenwood’s season average. Outside attacker Colin Hackworth leads Lindenwood and is fourth in the conference with a 3.61 kills per game average.
Lewis’ last MIVA tournament title was 2012.