Ball State University Athletics
No. 10 Men's Volleyball Completes Sweep of Springfield College
January 28, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
Muncie. Ind. - - The No. 10 Ball State men's volleyball team completed a weekend sweep of visiting Springfield College with a 3-0 (30-20, 30-13, 31-29) victory Saturday evening at Worthen Arena. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 6-0 on the year, while the Pride fall to 3-2.
"We were able to find our offensive rhythm early in tonight's contest," said head coach Joel Walton. "I was pleased to see Zoran, Matt and Nick each turn in good hitting percentages. Had we finished the match with our starters, our team total would have been well above the .300 mark.
"I was also happy with our serving numbers tonight. We made them earn their points tonight with our tough serving and a solid defensive effort."
Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) paced all players with 15 kills in the contest, while Zoran Grabovac (Des Moines, Iowa/Hoover H.S.) added nine and Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) collected six.
All three players hit over .450 in the contest, with McCarthy leading the attack with a .625 (
Grabovac would pace all players with six total blocks in the match, while collecting a pair of digs. Meyer would tally five digs, four blocks and an ace, while McCarthy scored three assists, three digs, a block and an ace.
After the teams battled back and forth to a 7-7 tie in the opening set, the Cardinals were able to rally off four-straight points on the serving of Evan Berg (Bristol, Wis./Central H.S.) and take control of the contest at 11-7. Springfield would get no closer than three points the rest of the game, as the Cardinals cruised to a 30-20 victory capped by a Berg solo stuff.
Springfield College managed to score the first point in the second stanza, but found the scoring tough after that, managing just 12 more points in a 30-13 second-game setback. Ball State turned in one of its best offensive performances of the season in the marker, hitting at a .524 (
The third and final set saw the Pride control the scoreboard much of the way, jumping ahead by as many as five points at the 20-15 mark. However, the five-point lead would evaporate quickly as Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) entered the game to serve and proceeded to help the Cardinals tie the set at 20-20.
Ball State would take its largest lead of the stanza at 27-24, only to see the Pride tie the set at 28 all. After a Meyer kill gave the Cardinals match point at 29-28, SC's David Smietana tied the game at 29. Meyer would respond with another blast off the Worthen Arena hardwood floor, giving Ball State its second match-point at 30-29. BSU would win the contest on a Pride attack error on the next play.
For the second-straight night, BSU setter Dave Carlson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids H.S.) tallied 23 assists after playing in just the first two games. He also added five digs, three total blocks, a pair of service aces and a kill before being replaced by Jim Shiel (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral H.S.) in the third game. Shiel ended the night with 13 assists and a kill.
Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) turned in a solid night for the Cardinals, collecting seven kill, six digs and three total blocks.
Berg would finish the contest with four kills, four digs, a service ace, a solo block and an assists, while Termion added two assists, one kill and a dig. Rumschik would also score a service ace in the win.
Also factoring in the victory for the Cardinals were Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) with a BSU-best seven digs to go along with an assist; Ryan Clarke (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) with three kills, two blocks and a dig; and Ted Summers-Torres (San Diego, Calif./University of San Diego H.S.).
As a team, the Cardinals posted a .302 (47-18-96) attack percentage, while limiting the Pride to a .058 (33-27-103) rate of success, including a -.057 (
Eric Palumbo paced the Springfield College offense with eight kills, while Kyle Magoffin added a match-best 10 digs.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will return to the road next weekend, when it opens Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action at Lewis at
