SPORTS 15
APRIL 18, 2018
MIVA: Men’s volleyball moves on in MIVA tourney Michen Dewey The PHOENIX
In his third year as Loyola men’s volleyball head coach, Mark Hulse was named MIVA Coach of the Year. Hulse is the first Loyola coach to win MIVA Coach of the Year since his predecessor, Shane Davis, won in 2014.
continued from page 1 The Ramblers had a three-day break before taking on Ball State. Loyola went 1-1 against Ball State during the regular season, winning at Gentile Arena and losing in Muncie, Indiana. Since the Ramblers are the higher seed again, they will have home-court advantage. Unlike preparing for Lindenwood, Hulse said they’re going to have to adjust their playing style before they face Ball State Wednesday night.
“They are real tough defensively. They make you earn it out there,” Hulse said. “I think in some ways Lindenwood was a good work up into [Ball State]. Ball State is playing a slightly better version of [Lindenwood’s] game. They have been winning a few, they beat Ohio State — who’s pretty darn good — last weekend. They are playing some pretty good volleyball.” All eight MIVA teams have played each other twice already — once at home and once away. Playing teams for
a third time can be more difficult than one would think, according to Hulse. With both teams putting everything on the court the last two games, he said it could be harder to catch the other off guard. “I think it’s nice when the team can add some wrinkles down the stretch,” Hulse said. “Hopefully, we will be able to do a couple things differently than we did during the season and give them something of a different look. It’s tough, and it’s going to [be the same]
with everybody we play the rest of the conference playoff. Everyone will know each other very well.” At the beginning of the season, the players set goals for themselves to reach by the season’s end, according to Hulse. One of those goals was being one of the top two seeds going into playoffs. Hulse said they worked hard to get into one of the top spots and it’s right where they want to be. “We said at the beginning of the year you need to be [one of] the top two
seeds to be where you want to be,” Hulse said. “Historically, the number one or two seed of our regular season are the only teams that ever make it to the NCAA [tournament]. It’s almost 50/50 whether it’s the one seed or the two seed. One of those teams is going to make it, and the three seed rarely does, if ever.” The Ramblers are scheduled to play Ball State April 18 in the semifinal round of the MIVA tournament at Gentile Arena. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
2018 MIVA TOURNAMENT Ball State (3)
Ohio State (1)
Ohio State (1)
Ball State (3)
Quincy (8)
McKendree (6)
Lewis (4)
LUC (2)
Lewis (4)
Fort Wayne (5)
LUC (2)
Lindenwood (7) Alexandra Runnion
The PHOENIX
The top four seeds advanced to the MIVA semifinals, which will be played tonight. Loyola will take on Ball State at 7 p.m. at Gentile Arena for a chance to go to the final.