MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team picked up its eighth win in the last nine matches with a 3-0 (30-24, 30-21, 30-27) sweep of Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association rival Mercyhurst Saturday night at Worthen Arena.
With the win, Ball State climbs to 9-6 overall and to 4-1 in league play, one win behind No. 8 Ohio State for first place in the MIVA. The Lakers, who entered the contest with a two-match winning streak, drop to 2-10 (0-4 MIVA) with the loss.
“I don't think we played as focused tonight as we needed to,” said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. “Mercyhurst is a dangerous team that came into tonight looking for its first league win. They were able to capitalize on a lot of our mistakes, we just made some key defensive plays in the end to get the win.”
Overall, the Ball State defense limited the Lakers to 34 kills - - a season-low for a Ball State opponent - - while collecting 32 digs and 10 total blocks.
“We had good offense, but just look at the numbers they hit,” added Walton. “They hit below .100 for the night. I think we played pretty good defense, starting with our serves.”
Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) paced the BSU defense with a match-high nine digs, playing in the libero position for the final two games. He also added one of the Cardinals' three service aces.
Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) was the match's top attacker, logging 13 kills, while adding seven digs, two blocks and a service ace.
Fellow Louisville native Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) also posted double-digit kills for BSU, finishing the match with 12, while adding a career-high three solo blocks.
Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) was Ball State's top attacker by percentage, recording seven kills on eight swings with no errors for a .875 rate of success.
Jeff Hartman paced the Mercyhurst attack with 11 kills, white David Hatten added a team-high nine digs. The Lakers' Dave Newman paced all players with seven total blocks (2 solo and 5 assists).
The Cardinals looked poised to breeze through the first game, pulling ahead 13-5 in a run that including three kills from both J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) and Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) as well as two markers from Chamberlain.
However, the visitors from Erie, Pa., battled back to tie the set at 14, thanks to some strong play at the net that including three blocks and a pair of kills from Newman. A Chamberlain kill, followed by a MC attack error helped the Cardinals rebound and pull ahead by four at 21-17.
The guests answered the call again, drawing within one at 22-21 and remained behind by a single point at 24-23. Ball State followed by scoring the next four points on a pair of Lakers attack errors surrounding a Chamberlain kill and an Ebel ace. After an Imwalle kill gave BSU game point at 29-24, Durbin blasted the set-winner at 30-24.
Mercyhurst scored the first two points of the second game, before a McCarthy kill, plus a solo stuff and kill from Durbin put BSU ahead 3-2. After the team's played to a 4-4 tie, another Durbin kill sparked a 4-0 Ball State run, pushing the score to 8-4.
Ball State maintained the four-point lead at 15-11, only to see the Lakers rally off four-straight to tie the set at 15. A Durbin kill broke the tie for the second time in the game, while Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) and Justin Orr (Gladstone, Mo./Winnetonka H.S.) followed with a block assists to put the hosts ahead for good. Ball State eventually won the game 30-21 on three-straight Mercyhurst errors.
Ball State controlled the third set from the start, pulling ahead 4-1 and building an eight-point advantage at 27-19. A kill from Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) put BSU within two points of winning the match at 28-20, while a Durbin kill gave Ball State match-point at 29-22.
Mercyhurst did not go down without a fight, however, as a Newman kill sparked a 5-0 Lakers run making the score 29-27. This time is was Chamberlain's turn to stop the rally, as he finished off the night with his match-high 13th kill.
Overall, BSU out-hit the Lakers .288 (55-23-111) to .082 (34-26-97). Ball State also held a 32-to-24 advantage in digs and a 3-to-1 lead in aces. Both teams finished the night with 10 total blocks.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to the Worthen Arena hardwood floor Wednesday evening, for a mid-week MIVA showdown with No. 12 Loyola, who handed the Cardinals their only league loss earlier this season.
?We have got to be ready to go against Loyola,” concluded Walton. “Our guys have got to have a lot of venom in their minds as we go after the Ramblers on Wednesday. Hopefully people are reading their schedules and see we are playing on an unusual night and come out and support us.”
