The Ball State University men's volleyball team was predicted to finish in second place in the conference preseason poll released Monday afternoon.
With the six Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association head coaches making the selections, the Cardinals received 26 votes - one more vote than defending conference champion Ohio State University.
This is Ball State's highest preseason ranking in the last four seasons. The Cardinals were ranked in fourth place in last season's preseason polls but finished the season No. 10 in the national rankings and lost in the MIVA championship match.
Lewis University received every first-place vote to be the conference preseason favorite with 36 votes.
In addition to the rankings, outside attacker Todd Chamberlain and middle attacker Matt McCarthy were named to the MIVA All-Conference Preseason team.
Chamberlain was 10th in conference averaging 3.2 kills per game last season. McCarthy, who was named to the 2008 First Team All-MIVA, was third in the MIVA with a .436 attack percentage.
The national preseason coaches poll will be released Dec. 29.
Ball State opens its season against Stanford University at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17, 2009 in Worthen Arena.
MIVA Preseason rankings 1. Lewis - 36 votes 2. Ball State - 26 votes 3. Ohio State - 25 votes 4. Loyola - 21 votes 5. IPFW - 12 votes 6. Quincy - 6 votes
MIVA All-Conference Preseason Team Kris Berzins - Loyola Todd Chamberlain - Ball State Mike Iandolo - Lewis Robbie Klein - Ohio State Nick Lamoureux - Loyola Matt McCarthy - Ball State Nicky Perakes - Lewis Drew Pickering - Lewis Billy Sahagian - Lewis Ben Spurlock - Ohio State
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