Author: vinnielopes

Story highlights:
Off the Block conducted a series of interviews regarding racial incidents within the Ball State men’s volleyball program that occurred from 2013 to 2018. Below are some of the findings reported in this story

• Ball State players for multiple years said the word neighbor as an euphemism for the n-word.
• Ball State coach Joel Walton in 2015 said the n-word during a team meeting when describing musical lyrics he didn’t want to hear in the locker room.
• Multiple Ball State players said the n-word in the presence of Black teammates during team parties in recent years.
• Walton in 2017 discouraged players from kneeling during the national anthem.

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Lem Turner sat alone in his room.

The typical college party was taking place downstairs in his off-campus house and filled with his Ball State men’s volleyball teammates. Yet, Turner was upstairs crying. Continue reading “Enduring Racism: The Experiences for Black Ball State men’s volleyball players”

Stanford libero Justin Lui will get an extended look with the Canadian Men’s National Team this offseason.

Volleyball Canada, the country’s national governing body for the sport, recently announced that Lui was among the 18 players selected to participate in the National Excellence Program. Continue reading “Stanford libero Lui selected for elite Canadian volleyball training program”

A podium finish at an international beach volleyball event barely eluded Ohio State outside attacker Sotiris Siapanis.

Siapanis representing his home nation of Cyprus finished in fourth place at the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship that concluded Sunday in Brno, Czech Republic.

Siapanis and his teammate Odysseas Savvides lost to the Italian duo of Gianluca Dal Corso and Marco Viscovich 21-19, 21-14 in the bronze-medal match on Sunday. The Cyprus pair was eliminated from gold medal contention earlier in the day following a semifinals loss to Swedish pair of Jonatan Hellvig and David Ahman.

Siapanis and Savvides reached the semifinals after winning their first three matches in the knock-out stage of the tournament. In addition, the team went undefeated in pool-play and won the Pool G title to qualify for the knock-out stage.

This was the second international tournament for Siapanis in recent weeks.

The freshman playing for the Cyprus Men’s National Team was among the offensive leaders at the EuroVolley qualification tournament.

Siapanis was fourth at the tournament with 73 kills and had double-digit kills in four matches. He also was in the tournament’s top 10 with a 43.45 percent offensive efficiency and a .280 attack percentage.

Siapanis will now join the Buckeyes for the 2021 season. Ohio State ended the shortened 2020 season at 11-8 and opened the season on a six-match winning steak.

Concordia-Irvine will have plenty of depth in the upcoming seasons.

The Eagles announced earlier this week their largest recruiting class in program history with 14 players joining the team for the 2021 season. Continue reading “Concordia-Irvine adds biggest recruiting class in program history”

A finalist for the Lloy Ball Award is switching schools.

Concordia-Irvine announced earlier this week that setter Oscar Fiorentino has transferred from Barton and will join the Eagles for the 2021 season. Continue reading “All-ConfCarolinas setter Fiorentino transfers to Concordia-Irvine”

Outside attacker Sotiris Siapanis will arrive at Ohio State after finishing among the offensive leaders at an international tournament.

Siapanis playing his home country of Cyprus finished in the top 10 for kills, attack percentage and offensive efficiency at the CEV EuroVolley qualification tournament that concluded this weekend in Cyprus. Continue reading “Ohio State outside Siapanis tops offensive stat categories at EuroVolley qualifier”

A tournament-finale sweep was not enough for Spain and NJIT outside attacker Alvaro Gimeno to earn a berth to the 2021 EuroVolley tournament.

Gimeno coming off the bench had two kills as Spain swept the Republic of Moldova 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 on Sunday in Cyprus to move into a first-place tie with Latvia but lost the tiebreaker to miss out on the only EuroVolley bid at the qualification tournament. Continue reading “Spain, NJIT outside Gimeno miss out on EuroVolley bid despite tournament finale win”

Spain remains in contention for a berth to the 2021 EuroVolley tournament thanks in part to NJIT outside attacker Alvaro Gimeno.

The Co-EIVA Player of the Year coming off the bench had four kills on a .500 attack percentage as Spain beat Latvia 27-25, 18-25, 28-26, 25-22 on Saturday in Nicosia, Cyprus at the EuroVolley qualification tournament. Continue reading “Spain, NJIT outside Gimeno beat Latvia to stay alive for possible EuroVolley berth”

The qualifier for the 2021 EuroVolley continues today with multiple NCAA men’s volleyball competing in the event.

The top team from this four-team pool following the double round-robin will earn a berth to the EuroVolley that will take place in the summer of 2021.

Check out all the round-robin matches to follow today and how to follow the matches live. Continue reading “EuroVolley qualification matches to follow today”

Gordon Brunskill | EIVA Sports Information Director

When the EIVA’s Racial Equity Council held its first meeting in July, the forum was open for stories of what black student-athletes experienced.

“On the road, fans kept calling me the N-word and it was never addressed,” recounted one council member. Continue reading “EIVA Racial Equity Council makes inaugural presentation to teams”