Ball State volleyball wins MIVA Player, coaching honors; BSU-Tennessee football game moved

MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State men's volleyball, on top of winning the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season championship, dominated the league's postseason honors.

Senior outside hitter Kaleb Jenness was named the MIVA Player of the Year and earned All-MIVA First Team honors for the third straight season, head coach Donan Cruz was named MIVA Coach of the Year, graduate students Quinn Isaacson and Angelos Mandilaris earned All-MIVA First Team honors while Felix Egharevba earned All-MIVA Second Team honors.

More: After clinching 1st MIVA title in decades, Ball State men's volleyball shifts focus to postseason

Jenness, who ranks second in the country with 4.69 kills per set, leads Ball State in kills (352), hitting percentage (.386) and points (5.14). Isaacson is ranked first in the NCAA in assists per set (11.48), has 15 aces this season and ranks seventh all-time in program history with 3,055 assists.

Mandilaris, who was recently selected as the AVCA National Player of the Week, ranks second on the team in kills (259), aces (11) and block assists (32). Egharevba leads Ball State with 60 blocks (10 solo, 50 assists) and ranks first in the nation with 1.35 blocks per set.

Cruz, in his first season at the helm, helped lead Ball State to its first MIVA regular season championship since 1997. This year, Ball State (20-3) posted its first 20-plus win season since 2016, with a pair of wins of then-ranked No. 1 Hawai'i and a split at then ranked No. 9 BYU. Cruz helped lead the Cardinals to their first road win over Lewis since 2010 and first sweep over Ohio State since 2014.

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Ball State opens up the MIVA Tournament at 7 p.m. Saturday at Worthen Arena in a quarterfinal match against No. 8 Quincy.

Here's what else happened this week in East Central Indiana high school and collegiate athletics:

Submit your high school sports results to The Star Press by emailing sports@muncie.gannett.com.

Ball State-Tennessee football game moved to Sept. 1

Ball State's 2022 season opener will be played Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network, according to an announcement from ESPN and the Southeastern Conference.

The game, which was supposed to be played on Sept. 3, will be the first meeting between the Cardinals and the Vols. Ball State has played 10 SEC teams, most recently Texas A&M in 2015.

Ball State's Lukacs, Braun earn weekly MAC women's tennis honor

Ball State's Livia Lukacs and Jessica Braun were named the Mid-American Conference Doubles Team of the Week.

The two went 2-0 at the No. 2 and No. 3 double positions last weekend, earning a 6-4 victory over Bowling Green and 6-0 victory over Miami. Both matches resulted in wins for Ball State.

Alex Richard commits to Ball State women's basketball

Alex Richard, an Avon, Indiana native, has committed to Ball State women's basketball. Richard played her freshman season at Butler during the 2021-22 season, where she shot 45% from the field, averaged 7.4 points and 4.3 rebounds.

"Alex comes to us with some great experience playing against a high level of competition," Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said in a press release. "She will be ready to impact our program as a strong and physical big in this system. Her ability to score with her back to the basket is evident and I look forward to seeing her skill set flourish as we take advantage of her athleticism and strength. Alex is a perfect fit both on and off the court."

High school track and field

Wes-Del sweeps three-way with Daleville, Union

Wes-Del's boys scored 63 points to beat Daleville (41) and Union while its girls scored 68 points to beat Daleville (45) and Union (26).

Wapahani sweeps quad meet

Wapahani swept a quad meet with Blackford, Blue River and Union City. The Raiders' boys scored 107 points to beat Blackford (53), Union City (43) and Blue River (22) while the Raiders' girls scored 90 points to beat Blue River (67), Blackford (62) and Union City (7).

Delta boys, Yorktown girls win three-way with Jay County

Delta's boys team scored 83 points to beat Yorktown (54) and Jay County (19) while Yorktown's girls team scored 53 points to edge Delta (52) and Jay County (51).

High school baseball

Greenfield-Central tops Delta

Delta lost to Greenfield-Central 12-5. The Eagles were led by Parker Faletic and Brady Jennings, who each had a hit and an RBI in the game.

Shenandoah dominates Eastern Hancock

Shenandoah dominated Eastern Hancock 21-5. The Raiders recorded 18 hits as a team and were led by Jobe Robinson (two hits, four RBIs), Lucas Mills (two hits, three RBIs) and Jasper Campbell (three hits, three RBIs). Carson Brookbank earned the win, allowing five runs on five hits in five innings while striking out nine.

Wapahani tops Daleville

Wapahani defeated Daleville 6-2. The Raiders were led by Isaac Andrews (one hit, two RBIs), Luke Willmann (two hits, one RBI) and Daxton Dudley (two hits). Nate Luce earned the win, striking out eight batters in five innings. The Broncos were led by Ayden Ramirez (two hits) and Zach Neff (one hit, one RBI).

Yorktown tops Jay County

Yorktown defeated Jay County 13-8. The Tigers were led by Jacob Pruitt (two hits, two RBIs), Jayce Key (two hits, one RBI) and Mark Avila (one hit, two RBIs). Landon Case, who threw 2.1 innings, earned the victory.

Monroe Central tops Muncie Central

Monroe Central beat Muncie Central 8-0. The Golden Bears limited the Bearcats to three hits in the game.

Cowan beats Wes-Del

Cowan defeated Wes-Del 5-2. The Warriors were led by Alex Light (two hits, one RBI), Kade Banter (two hits, one RBI) and Zack Todd (two hits).

Blue River beats Randolph Southern

Blue River defeated Randolph Southern 12-5. The Vikings were led by Isaiah Gard (four hits, three RBIs), Kye Golliher (one hit, two RBIs) and Garrett Grim (two hits, one RBI). Layke Leonard earned the victory on the mound, striking out nine batters and allowing three earned runs in five innings.

High school softball

Eastern Hancock tops Shenandoah

Shenandoah was defeated 17-0 by Eastern Hancock.

Eastern beats Blackford

Blackford lost 13-0 against Eastern.

Cowan tops Wes-Del

Cowan defeated Wes-Del 9-4. Tatum Rickert was victorious on the mound for the Blackhawks, allowing four runs on three hits while striking out 15. The Blackhawks were led by Aryonna Bynum (one hit, three RBIs) and Lauren Smith (one hit, two RBIs).

Randolph Southern beats Blue River

Blue River fell to Randolph Southern 17-3.

Adams Central tops Delta

Delta was defeated 14-4 against Adams Central. The Eagles were led by Mia Ramsey (two hits, one RBI) and Ellie Summers (two hits).

Jay County falls to Ft. Recovery

Ft. Recovery beat Jay County 10-9. The Patriots were led by Jaelynn Lykins (three hits, two RBIs), Olivia Bright (two hits) and Riah Champ (two hits).

High school girls tennis

New Castle tops Shenandoah

New Castle defeated Shenandoah 3-2. The Raiders were victorious at No. 2 singles (Reina Sherman) and No. 3 singles (Taylor Griffis).

Blue River tops Randolph Southern

Blue River defeated Randolph Southern 4-1. The Vikings were led by Ava Willis (No. 2 singles), Kearsten Perdue (No. 3 singles), Jenna Willis and Samantha Webb (No. 1 doubles) along with Reagan Parmley and Leah Foster (No. 2 doubles).

Ball State softball wins in walk-off, falls to IUPUI

Ball State (13-22, 6-5 MAC) ended its series against Ohio in dramatic fashion, with shortstop Kayla Lissy hitting a walk-off home run to give the Caridnals a 5-4 victory. Lissy led the way with four hits and three RBIs while Faith Hensley recorded two hits and two RBIs. Deborah Jones earned the win, throwing three innings of scoreless softball and striking out five.

The next day, Ball State lost to IUPUI 8-3. All three of the Cardinals' runs game in the first inning. Offensively, Ball State as led by Delanie Johnson (one hit, two RBIs), Amaia Daniel (one hit, one RBI) and Samantha-Jo Mata (two hits).

Robby General covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high school sports for The Star Press. Contact him via email at rgeneral@gannett.com or on Twitter @rgeneraljr.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State-Tennesee football game moved around in September