Ball State University Athletics
No. 10 Men's Volleyball Slips Past Carthage as Peckler Sets School Record
January 20, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - The No. 10 Ball State men's volleyball team (4-0) pulled out a five-game thriller Friday night at Worthen Arena in the only match of the Don Shondell/Active Ankle Challenge, posting a 3-2 (28-30, 30-21, 25-30, 30-24, 15-10) victory over the Carthage Red Men (1-3) from Kenosha, Wis.
In the match, Ball State sophomore libero Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) broke a 19-year old school record with a career-high 29 digs. The previous record of 25 was set by Ball State head coach Joel Walton vs. Ohio State on
"Ian's 29 digs in tonight's match were huge," said Walton. "Despite starting the match a little shaky with the location of his digs, Ian steadied out and played a huge role in setting up our offense for our wins in games four and five."
In addition to Peckler's 29 digs, junior outside attacker Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) turned in a solid defensive effort, tying a career-high with 11 digs. Meyer also added 17 kills for his first double-double of the season and the third of his career.
As a team, the Cardinals finished the contest with 68 digs, compared to 62 for Carthage. While BSU held a .277 (77 kills, 28 errors, 188 attempts) to .192 (66-31-182) advantage in hitting, while both teams scored nine total blocks and Carthage held a 7 to 3 edge in service aces.
"As a team, we have to block better and bring our offense up to the level we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year," added Walton. "Tonight's match was a lesson for our team. We need to come out ready to play every time we step on the court."
In addition to Meyer's 17 kills, three other BSU players collected double-figure kills on the night, paced by Patrick Durbin's (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) career-high tying 18. Both Evan Berg (Bristol, Wis./Central H.S.) and Zoran Grabovac (Des Moines, Iowa/Hoover H.S.) scored 13 kills in the victory.
Durbin and Berg would each add seven digs and one block to their stat lines, while Grabovac collected a pair of digs, a block and a service ace. Meyer would finish the match with two blocks.
Dave Carlson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids H.S.) would tallied a match-best 63 assists - - falling one shy of tying his career-high of 64 - - while pacing the Cardinals with five total blocks and adding nine digs, three kills and an ace.
Doug Willmann (St. Louis, Mo./Francis Howell North H.S.) paced the Cardinals' attackers with a match-best .538 attack percentage, recording seven kills on 13 swings with no errors. He would also collect three blocks and a dig
Also factoring in the win for the Cardinals were Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) with four kills, four blocks and a dig; Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) with two kills; Ted Summers-Torres (San Diego, Calif./University of San Diego H.S.) with a dig and Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.).
The Red Men's Shane Olson would pace all players with 25 kills in the contest, while four Carthage players collected double-figure digs, paced by Matt Ulmer's 13. Rob Koehler would score a match-best six total blocks.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will return to action Friday, Jan. 27, when they host Springfield College in the first of back-to-back matches. BSU's match vs. Juniata, which was scheduled for Jan. 22, has been cancelled.
