Iandolo, Orlando look to continue tradition with Ball State men’s volleyball and men’s tennis

Ball State Athletics and Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell concluded the calendar year 2024 by announcing a head coach hire. It was Cardinals’ head football coach Mike Uremovich (Dec. 4, 2024), following the dismissal of former Cardinal coach Mike New Nov. 17, 2024.

Then, to open 2025, the Cardinals chose Andy Stoots March 11 to take over the women’s soccer program after former coach Josh Rife took the same position at Indiana University.

But those two were not the last hirings as Ball State made two more moves for the upcoming 2025-26 athletic year.

‘A part of something major’

After leading Ball State men’s volleyball to an 81-36 overall record in four seasons — including the Cardinals’ first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2022 — Ball State Athletics announced June 27 that Donan Cruz was resigning from the head coach role.

“I thank Coach Cruz for his oversight and guidance of our program the past four seasons,” Mitchell said in a press release.

Within 24 hours of finding out about the change, former Ball State assistant coach Mike Iandolo was offered the interim position.

“I didn’t have much time to process. It all happened pretty fast,” Iandolo said. “Within 24 hours of me finding out from [Cruz] and then very quickly after that, meeting with Jeff and becoming the head coach, we had informed the team and the public. The next day, I was flying to Orlando to go recruit.”

Even before Ball State, Iandolo was familiar with the Men’s Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) as he played the sport at Lewis University. After graduating, he got his first head coaching role with the University of Charleston (W.Va) and stayed for three seasons (2019-21). When he arrived at Ball State ahead of the 2022 season, the then-assistant coach prioritized helping to build a culture.

It’s still something he wants to continue in his new role.

“I’m pumped. I love this conference,” Iandolo said. “I think it’s one of the best conferences in the country, and it’s highly competitive.”

Landolo wants to prove that he can be the Cardinals’ head coach for the foreseeable future. Besides continuing to build a winning program, he wants to give the Ball State and Delaware County community a team they can root for and stand behind.

“It’s hard to explain to people outside of the volleyball community here in Muncie and in Central Indiana,” he said. “It’s a different place. It’s one of a handful of programs that truly make you feel like you’re a part of something major. For men’s volleyball, we’ve got a program with a lot of history.

“We’ve got tons of alumni who care and still are connected to the program. We’ve got a community that not only knows volleyball, but loves volleyball and comes and watches.”

 ‘A full-circle moment’ 

For 53 seasons, Ball State men’s tennis was led by one man: Bill Richards. During his tenure, the long-time Cardinals head coach went 769-482 overall and recorded a 243-88 MAC record. The red and white also grabbed 38 tournament and Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season championships, appeared in the NCAA Tournament eight times and had 17 undefeated regular seasons.

On June 25, Richards announced his retirement. Five days later, it was announced that assistant coach Gene Orlando would be the next head coach. To him, it was a special occasion.

“It’s like a full circle moment,” Orlando said. “I never envisioned this happening.”

Orlando’s tennis career started under Richards, as the new coach played tennis at Ball State and was on Richards’ first MAC title team. After four years at Ball State (1983-87) — which included four MAC titles — he then spent a year as a graduate assistant (1988).

“I could have gone somewhere else [and] had even a better career. But if I didn’t play for [Richards], my trajectory wouldn’t have gone the way it did,” Orlando said. “Competing against the best in the country, I got to do some things that I never thought I’d do, and if I did not come to Ball State, those dreams would never happen.”

After his first stop at Ball State, Orlando spent three seasons with Bowling Green as head coach and then took the same position for Michigan State (1992-2021). Under his leadership, the Spartans appeared in their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2013. Orlando won a total of 361 victories with the green and white — a program record.

But after retiring from coaching in 2022, he agreed to help Ball State as his son, Vince, played for the Cardinals. It was Richards who first sparked the idea of Orlando taking over the program once he called it a career. Orlando also believed it would be a good fit due to the connections he had in Muncie.

“We played Ball State every year when I was at Michigan State, so I got to know all of those players,” he said. “I recruited a lot of them, so there’s a relationship right there. I already know my alumni. I’m walking into this program feeling like I’ve been here forever.”

Though the Cardinals are months away from their season, one thing is for certain for the Cardinals and their new commander. Orlando will never coach at another school.

“I had no interest in coaching again other than here,” Orlando said. “There’s no replacing [Richards], but I do have the opportunity to continue what he’s built here over the last 53 years.”

Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.