Ohio State & Loyola On Pace to Share Regular Season Title; MIVA Update (Apr. 4)

It seemed as if Loyola Chicago was just humming their way along to a league title in the regular season, and while that could still come via share or with an upset loss to the Buckeyes, the two-time defending National and MIVA champs (Ohio State) is surging at the right time. That was emphasized with OSU’s victories over Loyola Chicago and Lewis, as now we head into the final week seeing if either the Buckeyes or Ramblers fall to make the other team an outright winner of the MIVA.

With new story-lines emerging and a new season of sorts in league play commencing, VolleyMob will be giving conference updates. Below is analysis as well as the weekly MIVA table, awards, matches of the week and power rankings:

MIVA TABLE:

WEEKLY HONORS:

• VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Maxime Hervoir – Ohio State)
• VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Pelegrin Vargas – Fort Wayne)
• MIVA Weekly Awards

MATCHES OF THE WEEK:

• April 5: #6 Loyola Chicago at Lindenwood
• April 6: #5 Ohio State at #13 Fort Wayne
• April 6: #17 McKendree at #12 Ball State
• April 7: #17 McKendree at #13 Fort Wayne
• April 7: #5 Ohio State at #12 Ball State

VOLLEYMOB MIVA POWER RANKINGS:

1. Ohio State
2. Loyola Chicago
3. Lewis
4. Ball State
5. Fort Wayne
6. McKendree
7. Lindenwood
8. Quincy

SHARING IS CARING

• #5 Ohio State & #6 Loyola Chicago

Now that Ohio State got their revenge on Loyola Chicago, both teams are tied atop the MIVA standings. Ohio State would be in line to get the top seed in the MIVA Tournament as they won five of nine sets with Loyola Chicago for the tiebreaker. That said, both teams would still be considered regular season champions, with the MIVA Tournament serving as a rubber match of sorts if the two can meet in the finals for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. With that in mind, both teams need to win out to force that match to give the MIVA their best chance at being a two-bid league, because right now whoever loses the conference will be right in discussion for that second at-large bid most likely, so beyond MIVA intentions the finish is important from that standpoint. It’s an easier finish to the regular season for Loyola Chicago though, as Ohio State goes to the road (where they’ve struggled at times) against two top-15 teams, so it’s still possible the Ramblers take the crown outright.

SEEDING THE REST

• #12 Ball State, #10 Lewis, #17 McKendree, #13 Fort Wayne

All four of these teams sit within three matches of each other, with Ball State and Lewis within one and McKendree and Fort Wayne within one of each other. That sets up for a crazy finish in terms of who gets what seed for the MIVA Tournament, but at the end of the day it will really only change the matchups because all four of these teams will be taking each other on in the quarterfinals. They’ll all try to score a big win against another ranked opponent or two this week too, to either add to their seed, get them feeling good about their quarterfinal opponent or just get going altogether.