ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood Men's Volleyball team (17-4, 8-3 MIVA) fell for the first time inside Hyland Arena on Thursday night by a score of 3-0 to Ball State. The Lions were held to a .167 hitting percentage as a team, while the Cardinals finished the match hitting .406 and recorded nine total blocks defensively to keep Lindenwood's offense in check. 

Ball State set the tone early by starting out the first set on a 9-4 run to seize control early and forced a Lion timeout. Out of the timeout, Lindenwood cut the deficit to two by a score of 15-13 after Owen Walsh recorded a service ace, but the two teams kept trading points back-and-forth and the Cardinals eventually ended the first set on a 4-2 run to take the opening set by a score of 25-20. Luke Kraft led the Lions in the set with seven kills, but Ball State recorded 5.5 total blocks in set one and limited the Lions to a hitting percentage of .167. In set two, the Cardinals once again jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead and never looked back to take the second set 25-18. Lindenwood cut the deficit down to three on three separate occasions, but the Lions weren't able to generate a run after trailing early on in set two. 

In the third and final set, Ball State hit .429 and the Cardinal defense was able to hold the Lions to a hitting percentage of .111 to complete the sweep by taking the last set by a score of 26-24. With Lindenwood trailing 24-18 late in the set, Caden Whiteside recorded back-to-back kills to make the score 24-20, and Zach Solomon served up three straight aces to cut the Cardinal lead to 24-23. On the next serve, Owen Walsh and Kraft teamed up for a key block to even the set at 24-24, but Ball State responded with the next two points to hand the Lions their first home loss of the 2026 season. 

The Lions will wrap up their home stand on Saturday afternoon as they welcome in #20 Purdue Fort Wayne. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT.