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Two senior starters will be heading back to Ball State to continue their college men’s volleyball careers.
Coach Joel Walton informed Off the Block that outside attacker Blake Reardon and libero Nick LaVanchy will both return for the upcoming season.
The NCAA granted men’s volleyball players an extra year of eligibility after the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. This eligibility ruling, which applied to all student-athletes in spring sports, resulted in seniors being able to return for the 2021 season.
Reardon finished the shortened 2020 season in the conference’s top 15 with a 2.86 kills per game average on a career-best .310 attack percentage. He also averaged 1.14 digs per game en route to being named to the Second-Team All-MIVA.
Reardon had double-digit kills in seven matches, including a career-high 26 kills on a .558 attack percentage along with 15 digs in a comeback road victory against Loyola.
LaVanchy was 11th in the MIVA with a 1.81 digs per game average and had double-digit digs in three conference matches last season. The libero also has at least 100 digs in four consecutive seasons and is 11th in program history during the rally scoring era with 541 career digs.
Ball State was third place in the MIVA and receiving votes in the national coaches poll at the time that the 2020 season was canceled.