Ball State University Athletics
And Then There Was One, No. 9 Men's Volleyball Remains Undefeated
February 10, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - In front of the largest crowd of the season, the No. 9-ranked Ball State men's volleyball team became the lone undefeated Division I program in the nation Friday night, with a 3-0 (30-14, 30-24, 30-24) Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association victory over No. 12 Loyola-Chicago at Worthen Arena. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 10-0 (2-0 MIVA), while the Ramblers fall to 10-1 (4-1 MIVA).
"The atmosphere was electric tonight," said head coach Joel Walton. "I want to thank both the Ball State students and the Muncie community for their support. We had a fantastic crowd that was into the match the entire time and it made a huge difference for our team."
Behind the very vocal crowd, the Cardinals defense came out soaring, limiting the best offense in the nation to a .083 (39-28-133) hitting percentage. Loyola entered the match hitting at a NCAA-best .390 clip.
"The statement of the night was our ability to limit their offense," Walton said. "To hold the best-hitting team in the country to 30 percent under their normal average says a lot about our team."
While the Ramblers were limited on offense, the Cardinals had no problem finding the hardwood, hitting above .300 in games one and three, while finishing the night with a .284 (45-14-109) rate of success.
"Dave did a great job running our offense tonight," Walton continued. "He was able to keep Loyola's defense out of the match, which in turn helped shut down their offense."
Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) played a huge role in the Cardinals win, collecting his second double-double of the season with a match-best 14 digs and a team-high 12 kills. Meyer also paced all players with three service aces, while collecting four total blocks and three assists.
After giving up the first point of the match, things went the Cardinals way the rest of the opening game, as they built an early eight-point advantage at 11-3 and never looked back. Ball State would take its first 10-point edge at the 20-10 mark on a kill from Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South), before winning the frame by 16 points, 30-14, on a sneak attack from setter Dave Carlson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids H.S.).
The second stanza saw the visitors from Chicago control the scoreboard early on, until another kill from Carlson tied the frame at 12. The Ramblers would rally off the next three points, taking its only three point-advantage of the match at 15-12, before a 4-1 BSU run tied the game at 17. Evan Berg (Bristol, Wis./Central H.S.) would follow with a pivotal kill to spark three more BSU points, giving Ball State an edge it would not relinquish the rest of the game. BSU went on to win the second game 30-24, capped by a Ramblers attack error.
The teams traded the first two points of the third game, before a 3-0 Ball State run set the tone for what turned out to be the final stanza. Loyola would be able to cut the gap to two points at 4-2, but never get any closer as the Cardinals jumped ahead by as many as seven points, before winning the game 30-24 on a Meyer kill.
In addition to Meyer's match-best 14 digs, Carlson and Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) each posted double-figure totals in the category on the night, with Carlson scoring 13 and Peckler adding 11.
Carlson also finished the match with 30 assists, three total blocks, three kills and a service ace. Peckler would go on to add two assists and a kill that gave BSU match-point.
Zoran Grabovac (Des Moines, Iowa/Hoover H.S.) paced the Cardinals' blocking effort on the night, individually out-blocking the Ramblers seven (one solo and six assists) to six. Grabovac would also tally eight kills and an assists in the win.
McCarthy was not far behind in blocking, adding six (two solo and four assists) total stuffs of his own. He would also finish the contest with six kill and three digs.
Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) would post a pair of nines in the win, scoring nine kills and nine digs, while adding four block assists and two assists.
Rounding out BSU's offensive producers was Berg with six kills. Berg also scored six digs, four block assists, three assists and a service ace on the night.
Also factoring in the win were Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) and Ted Summers-Torres (San Diego, Calif./University of San Diego H.S.). Both would provide serving assistance in the match.
As a team, the Cardinals out-blocked the Ramblers by 10 (16 to 6) and out-dug the visitors by 13 (56 to 43). BSU also held a 5-to-1 advantage in aces and a 41-to-36 edge in assists.
Loyola's Chris Kozlarek paced all players with 15 kills in the match, while Brian Guntli lead the Ramblers with 10 digs.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will look to push its winning-streak to 11 matches Saturday, when it hosts Mercyhurst in another MIVA showdown. Match time is slated for
