Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association

2009 Releases

Return to Main Page

July 15, 2009

GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM JOINS THE MIDWESTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE VOLLEYBALL ASSOCIATION

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) commissioner Chris Schneider announced today that the Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, Ariz.) men’s volleyball team has been admitted as a full member of the MIVA for the 2010 season.

The Antelopes (‘Lopes) will face the other six members (Ball State, IPFW, Lewis, Loyola-Chicago, Ohio State, Quincy) in double round-robin play and will be eligible for the postseason MIVA Tournament.

Grand Canyon completed its first year of competition under head coach Chad Speer in 2009.

Contacts:

Chris Schneider, Commissioner
Midwestern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Office: 614-292-0012

B. Keith Baker, Athletic Director
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Office: 602-639-6054

May 4, 2009
Ohio State's Kevin Heine Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Kevin Heine was been named the MIVA Player of the Week. He earned MIVA All-Tournament honors and was named the MIVA Tournament Most Valuable Player in helping Ohio State win the MIVA Tournament with 3-0 wins over Loyola-Chicago and Ball State. Against Loyola-Chicago, Heine had six kills while hitting .600 and contributed a match-high six total blocks with one solo and five assists. He recorded seven kills and hit .700 against Ball State and produced a match-high seven total blocks with two solos and five assist blocks. In the two matches, Heine averaged 3.50 points per game while hitting .650. He averaged 2.17 blocks per game for the weekend.

April 27, 2009
Loyola-Chicago's George Kamberos Named the MIVA Player of the Week

George Kamberos (Palos Hills, Ill.), a 6-0 junior outside hitter for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (17-9 overall, 5-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. He was the top scorer for the Ramblers with 16.5 points in the 3-0 (30-26, 30-26, 30-28) in the MIVA Tournament quarterfinal victory over IPFW. Kamberos posted a match-high 16 kills while hitting .542 against the Mastodons. He added six digs and one assist block against IPFW and handled 20 of 23 serve reception attempts for the fourth-seeded Ramblers. For the match, Kamberos averaged 16.5 points, 5.33 kills, and 2.00 blocks per game. 

2009 MIVA All-Conference Teams Announced

Lewis' Drew Pickering named Player of the Year, Loyola-Chicago’s Mike Bunting named Freshman of the Year and Ohio State’s Pete Hanson named Coach of the Year

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association has announced its all-conference selections for the 2009 season. By a vote of the six conference coaches, Lewis’ Drew Pickering (OH, Sr., Wauwatosa, Wis.) has been named the MIVA Player of the Year and Loyola-Chicago’s Mike Bunting (OH, Fr., Wyomissing, Pa.) was selected as the MIVA Freshman of the Year. Ohio State’s Pete Hanson has been named the MIVA Coach of the Year for the third-consecutive season.

Pickering guided the Flyers to a 7-3 conference record, finishing second in the league standings. He was the conference leader in points (5.00) and kills (4.19) per game. Pickering ranked fourth in aces per game at .42, sixth in digs at 2.10 and was nine in attack percentage at .344.

Bunting ranked seventh in conference statistics in points at 3.94 and kills at 3.26. He tied for eighth in aces per game at .33.

Hanson is in his 25th season with Ohio State and now has been named the coach of the year nine times. He has won 12 regular season championships including the 2009 title and has won the MIVA tournament seven times.

Regular season champion Ohio State had six players receive all-conference honors. Steve Kehoe (S, So., North Bend, Ohio), Robbie Klein (OH, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) and Ted Schoenfeldt (OPP, Jr., Northbrook, Ill.) were named to the first team. Named to the second team from the Buckeyes were John Albertson (MH, Sr., Ballwin, Mo.), Mike Berzins (L, Fr., Brinklow, Md.) and John Klanac (OH, So., Orchard Park, N.Y.). Lewis had four players named to the first team and one to the second team. Joining player of the year Pickering on the first team were Mike Iandolo (S, Jr., Orlando, Fla.), Nick Perakes (L, Sr., Orlando, Fla.) and Billy Sahagian (MB, Sr., Bartlett, Ill.). Flyer Alex Vigansky (MB, Sr., Kenosha, Wis.) was a second-team selection. Loyola-Chicago and Ball State each had three players receive all-conference honors. Ball State’s first team selections included Todd Chamberlain (OA, Sr., Louisville, Ky.) and J.D. Gasparovic (MA, So., St. Louis, Mo.) with Ethan Pheister (S, Jr., Shorewood, Wis.) named to the second team for the Cardinals. Loyola-Chicago’s Kris Berzins (OH, Jr., Binklow, Md.) was a first-team selection for the Ramblers with freshman of the year Bunting and Nick Lamoureux (MB, Sr., Wheaton, Ill.) named to the second team. IPFW’s Ben Duckworth (OH, So., St. Louis, Mo.) and Darryl Shank (OH, So., London, Ontario, Canada) were second team selections for the Mastodons. Quincy’s Robbie Coughlin (OH, Sr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) earned second team honors for the Hawks.

The MIVA tournament opens this weekend with quarterfinal matches. Friday has fourth seeded Loyola-Chicago (16-9, 5-5 MIVA) hosting fifth seeded IPFW (12-14, 3-7) at 7 p.m. Third seeded Ball State (16-9, 6-4) hosts sixth seeded Quincy (17-32, 0-10) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The semifinals and championship match will be hosted by Ohio State in St. John Arena. In the April 30 semifinals, second seeded Lewis (21-7, 7-3) will play the Ball State-Quincy winner at 5 p.m. and top seeded Ohio State (14-10, 9-1) will face the Loyola-Chicago-IPFW winner at 7:30 p.m. The semifinal winners play at 7 p.m., Saturday May 2 for the tournament championship and the MIVA automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, May 7 and 9 in Provo, Utah, hosted by Brigham Young.

2009 MIVA First Team All-Conference (listed alphabetical)

2009 MIVA Second Team All-Conference (listed alphabetical)

2009 MIVA Player of the Year
Drew Pickering, Lewis

2009 MIVA Freshman of the Year
Mike Bunting, Loyola-Chicago

2009 MIVA Coach of the Year
Pete Hanson, Ohio State

1 Indicates 2008 MIVA First Team All-Conference Selection
2 Indicates 2008 MIVA Second Team All-Conference Selection
3 Indicates 2008 MIVA Freshman of the Year
4 Indicates 2007 MIVA Second Team All-Conference Selection
5 Indicates 2006 MIVA First Team All-Conference Selection
6 Indicates 2006 MIVA Second Team All-Conference Selection
7 Indicates 2006 Freshman of the Year

April 20, 2009
Loyola-Chicago's Kris Berzins Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Kris Berzins (Brinklow, Md.), a 6-1 junior opposite for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (16-9 overall, 5-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week and the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week. In the 3-2upset of 12th-ranked Lewis, Berzins had a match-high 25 kills while hitting .575. He added eight digs, on ace serve and an assist. Berzins handled 30 of 31 serve reception attempts. In the 3-0 victory against IPFW, he recorded 13 kills while hitting .550. Berzins added five digs, an assist block, two ace serves and two assists. He handled 17 serve reception attempts without an error. In the two matches, Berzins averaged 5.19 points and 4.75 kills per game while hitting .567. He averaged 1.63 digs, .13 blocks and .38 aces per game. The marks the third time this season that Berzins has been honored as the MIVA Player of the Week.

April 9, 2009
IPFW's Ben Duckworth Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Ben Duckworth (St. Louis, Mo.), a 6-5 sophomore opposite for the IPFW Mastodons (12-12 overall, 3-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. He averaged 6.19 points, 5.63 kills, 1.75 digs and 1.13 blocks per game in losses at 11th-ranked Ohio State (0-3) and at Ball State (2-3). Duckworth posted a match-high 19.5 points at Ohio State with a match-high 18 kills adding three block assists and five digs while hitting .270. In the five-game loss at Ball State, he recorded match-highs of 30 points and 27 kill. Duckwork added a team-high nine digs, six assist blocks and two assists while hitting .262. His 30 points, 27 kills and nine digs were all career highs.

April 9, 2009
2009 MIVA Academic All-Conference Team Announced

74 players honored for their work in the classroom

        COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association recognizes a total of 74 players who have been named to the MIVA Academic All-Conference Team. To be eligible, athletes must have achieved at least a career 3.00 grade point average on a 4.0 scale after the completion of the fall semester at their respective institutions.

The 2009 MIVA Academic All-Conference selections are listed below by school:

April 6, 2009
Ohio State's Ted Schoenfeldt Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Ted Schoenfeldt (Northbrook, Ill.) a 6-5 junior opposite for the Ohio State Buckeyes (12-9 overall, 8-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week and the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Wee. He helped Ohio State earn at least a share of the MIVA regular season championship with his play at #15 Loyola Chicago and #11 Lewis. Schoenfeldt posted a match-high 15.5 points at Loyola-Chicago (30-21, 30-25, 31-29) with a co-match-high 13 kills (.455) and five assist blocks. He added four digs in the match. In the close third game he had four kills and four assist blocks. In the 3-1 (30-24, 19-30, 30-26, 30-23) victory at Lewis, the first home loss of the season for the Flyers, Schoenfeldt recorded a match-high 22 points with a match-high 19 kills (.308), one ace serve and four assist blocks. He tied his career-high of 11 digs against Lewis for his first career double-double (kills-digs). Tied at one game each, Schoenfeldt hit .428 in the final two games, hitting .250 (5-2-12) in game three and .667 (7-1-9) in game four. In the two matches, he averaged 5.36 points, 4.57 kills, 2.14 digs and 1.29 blocks per game while hitting .361. Schoenfeldt is the Ohio State season team leader in points per game at 3.95. He ranks second in kills per game at 3.30, fourth in digs (1.19) and blocks (.71) per game. Schoenfeldt ranks second in aces per game at .23 and is fourth in attack percentage at .306.

March. 30, 2009
Loyola-Chicago's Kris Berzins Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Kris Berzins (Brinklow, Md.) a 6-1 junior outside hitter for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (12-8 overall, 1-4 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. In the 3-0 (31-29, 30-22, 30-23) victory over George Mason, Berzins posted a match-high 16 kills while hitting .355. He added three digs, three ace serves and one assist. Berzins handled 28 serve reception attempts without an error. He posted a match-high 18 kills while hitting a match-high .560 in the 3-0 (30-25, 30-24, 30-25) victory over Rutgers-Newark. Berzins added a match-high eight digs, one ace serve and one assist block while handling 16 serve reception attempts without an error. For the two matches, he averaged 6.42 points, 5.67 kills and 1.83 digs per game while hitting .446. Berzins handled 44 serve reception attempts without an error.

March. 23, 2009
Loyola-Chicago's Nick Lamoureux Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Nick Lamoureux (Wheaton, Ill.) a 6-7 senior middle blocker for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (10-8 overall, 1-3 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. In the 3-1 (30-19, 27-30, 30-20, 30-26) win at St. Francis, he posted a team-high 17 kills while hitting .565. He added three ace serves and two assist blocks. Lamoureux hit .375 and recorded seven kills in the 0-3 (30-21, 30-23, 30-24) loss at No. 7 Penn State. He added three ace serves, a dig and one assist block. His six ace serves has moved Lamoureux to seventh on the Loyola-Chicago career aces list with 83. For the two matches, he averaged 4.50 points, 3.43 kills, .86 aces, .14 digs and .43 blocks per game while hitting .487.

March 16, 2009
Drew Pickering of Lewis Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis.) a 5-10 senior outside for the Lewis Flyers (14-5 overall, 4-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. Pickering recorded a match-high 34.5 points in the 3-2 (30-23, 26-30, 28-30, 30-25, 19-17) come-from-behind victory over Ball State. He posted 27 kills while hitting .479 for the match. Pickering added five ace serves, a solo block and three assist blocks against the Cardinals. He had nine digs in the contest and handled 32 of 33 serve reception attempts. Pickering provided the match-winning kill at 19-17 in the fifth game. For the match, he averaged 6.90 points, 5.40 kills, 1.00 aces, 1.80 digs and .80 blocks per game. This is the third time this season Pickering has been honored as MIVA Player of the Week.

March 9, 2009
Ball State's Ethan Pheister Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis.) a 6-6 junior setter for the Ball State Cardinals (10-4 overall, 4-0 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. Pheister posted 49 assists in the 3-1 (30-20, 30-20, 35-37, 30-19) win at Quincy. He added six digs, four assist blocks, one ace serve and two kills. At Grand Canyon Saturday, in a 3-1 (30-20, 30-20, 27-30, 30-12) win, Pheister had 57 assists and contributed seven assist blocks, three digs, one ace serve and a kill. In Sunday’s 3-0 (30-13, 30-19, 30-18) victory at Grand Canyon, he had 30 assists and added six assist blocks, five digs and three kills. For the three matches, Pheister averaged 12.36 assists, 1.27 digs and 1.55 blocks per game. His setting in the three matches contributed to Ball State hitting a .414 aggregate for the three matches.

March 2, 2009
Drew Pickering of Lewis Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis.) a 5-10 senior outside hitter for the ninth-ranked Lewis Flyers (5-2 overall, 1-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week for the second time this season. In the 3-1 (30-21, 30-23, 25-30, 30-22) loss at third-ranked Penn State he posted a match-high 24 kills while hitting .341. He added seven digs and an ace serve in the match and handled 19 of 21 serve reception attempts. Pickering had a team-high 21 kills (.350) in the 3-1 (30-22, 30-25, 29-31, 13-29) win at 15th-ranked Ohio State. He added seven digs, three assist blocks and handled 36 of 37 serve reception attempts. In the two matches, Pickering averaged 5.94 points, 5.62 kills, 1.75 digs and .38 blocks per game. He hit .345 and had a .948 serve reception percentage.

Feb. 23, 2009
Loyola-Chicago's Kris Berzins Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Kris Berzins (Brinklow, Maryland) a 6-1 junior outside hitter for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (7-3 overall, 0-2 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. In the 3-1 (30-25, 30-23, 27-30, 30-28) loss at No. 12 Lewis, Berzins had 17 kills and 13 digs for his fifth double-double of the season. He hit .297 and added two block assists and handled 43 serve reception attempts without an error. In the 3-2 (30-24, 25-30, 25-30, 30-27, 15-9) victory over top-ranked Penn State, Berzins contributed 17 kills, two ace serves and five digs while hitting .262. He added a solo block and three assists in the match. His solo block was the match winner in the fifth game. Berzins handled 25 of 26 serve reception attempts. Against St. Francis, he had a career-high 30 kills in the 3-2 (27-30, 30-22, 30-27, 29-31, 15-12) win. Berzins hit .455 in the match adding two ace serves, nine digs and one assist block. He handled 19 of 21 serve reception attempts in the match. For the three matches, Berzins averaged 5.14 points, 4.57 kills, 1.93 digs and .50 blocks per game while hitting .338. He had a .967 serve reception percentage handling 87 of 90 attempts.

Feb. 17, 2009
IPFW's Darryl Shank Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Darryl Shank (London, Ontario, Canada) a 6-5 sophomore outside hitter for the IPFW Mastodons (6-3 overall, 1-2 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week for his play in the two wins over Grand Canyon. In the 3-1 (30-19, 32-34, 30-28, 30-26) win Friday, Shank posted a career-high 22 kills and added 10 digs, four assist blocks and two ace serves while hitting .292. He handled 23 of 25 serve reception attempts. In Saturday’s 3-0 (30-17, 30-27, 30-20) victory, Shank played in two games recording nine kills while hitting .471. He added three digs, two solo blocks, an assist block and one ace serve. Shank handled 14 of 15 serve reception attempts. For the weekend, he averaged 5.17 kills, 2.17 digs and 1.17 blocks per game while hitting .338.

Feb. 9, 2009
Drew Pickering of Lewis Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis.) a 5-10 senior outside hitter for the Lewis Flyers (5-2 overall, 1-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. In the 3-0 (34-32, 30-20, 30-26) conference win at IPFW posted a match-high 19 kills against the Mastodons while hitting .571. He added two digs, two blocks (one solo and one assist) and an ace serve in the match. Pickering had 10 kills while hitting .375 in the 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 30-18) win at home over Grand Canyon. He added two assist blocks and two digs in the match. For the two matches, Pickering averaged 6.50 points, 5.80 kills, .80 digs and .80 blocks per game while hitting .500.

Feb. 2, 2009
Ball State's J.D. Gasparovic Named the MIVA Player of the Week

J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo.) a 6-7 sophomore middle attacker for the Ball State Cardinals (1-3 overall, 1-0 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. In the 3-0 (30-26, 32-30, 34-32) win over MIVA preseason favorite Lewis (3-2, 0-1), Gasparovic had a career and match-high 16 kills while hitting for a team-best .591 (15-2-22). He added eight total blocks with a solo and seven assists. Gasparovic added three digs and three assists in the contest.

Jan. 26, 2009
Nathan Klaas of Lewis Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill.) a 6-7 junior outside hitter for the Lewis Flyers (3-1), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week. In the 3-0 (30-20, 30-19, 30-18) win over Carthage, Klaas had nine kills and hit .400 playing in two games. He added an ace serve, two digs and an assist block and handled nine of 10 reception attempts. In the 3-2 (30-20, 24-30, 30-24, 23-30, 15-7) victory over Lindenwood, Klaas posted a team-high 19 kills while hitting .395. He added nine digs, three assist blocks and handled 26 reception attempts without an error. For the two matches, Klaas averaged 4.43 points, 4.0 kills, .57 blocks and 1.57 digs per game while hitting .396. He handled 35 of 36 reception attempts for a .973 percentage.

Jan. 20, 2009
Ball State's Todd Chamberlain Named the MIVA Player of the Week

Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, KY) a 6-2 senior outside hitter for 13th-ranked Ball State (0-1), has been named the MIVA Player of the Week for his play against fourth-ranked Stanford in a 3-0 (30-20, 32-30, 30-22) loss to the Cardinal. Chamberlain recorded a match-high 20 kills against Stanford while hitting .410. He added a dig and three assist blocks in the match. His 20 kills tied his career high and is the second time he has posted 20 kills in a contest. Chamberlain averaged 7.17 points, 6.67 kills and 1.00 blocks per game.

Dec. 15, 2008

Lewis Picked as the 2009 MIVA Preseason Favorite

Flyers have four preseason all-conference selections, Ball State, Loyola-Chicago and Ohio State have two each

        COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Lewis Flyers have been selected as the unanimous 2009 preseason favorite to win the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association by a vote of the league coaches. The Flyers finished tied for third last year in the regular season and reached the MIVA tournament semifinals. Ball State, the runner-up in the 2008 MIVA tournament, was picked second. Ohio State, the 2008 MIVA regular-season and tournament champion, was picked third in the voting. Loyola-Chicago finished fourth, IPFW fifth and Quincy sixth to round out the poll.

        The coaches also selected the 2009 MIVA preseason all-conference team comprised of nine players and a libero. Four squads are represented on the team with Lewis having four selections. Ball State, Loyola-Chicago and Ohio State had two each. Voted to the team from Lewis were Mike Iandolo, Drew Pickering, Nick Perakes and Billy Sahagian. Named from Ball State were Todd Chamberlain and Matt McCarthy and from Ohio State, Robbie Klein and Ben Spurlock. Loyola-Chicago’s Kris Berzins and Nick Lamoureux completed the team.

2009 MIVA Preseason Team Ranking

2009 MIVA All-Conference Preseason Team

1) 2008 1st-team All-MIVA
2) 2008 2nd-team All-MIVA
3) 2007 2nd-team All-MIVA
4) 2006 2nd-team All-MIVA

 Return to Main Page