Ball State University Athletics
No. 8 Men's Volleyball Rebounds with 3-0 Win at Carthage
February 18, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
Kenosha, Wis. - - The No. 8 Ball State men's volleyball team rebounded from Friday's loss at IPFW with a 3-0 (30-27, 30-23, 30-28) victory over Carthage Saturday afternoon at the Carthage PEC. With the win, the Cardinals move to 12-1 on the year, while the Red Men fall to 5-6.
Ball State used a balanced offensive attack to take down Carthage for the second time this season, with three players posting double-figure kills.
Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) and Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) each collected 14 in the contest, while local product Evan Berg (Bristol, Wis./Central H.S.) made his homecoming special with 11 kills.
Meyer would add a match-best six blocks and seven digs to his stat line, while Durbin posted a team-high eight digs and two blocks and Berg scored seven digs, one block and three assists.
BSU setter Dave Carlson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids H.S.) guided the BSU offense to a .308 (58-22-117) attack percentage and posted a match-best 50 assists. He also added four kills, three digs, a pair of service aces and a block assist.
The opening set saw the teams battle through seven ties and five lead changes through the mid-way point with the score remaining deadlocked at 15-15. A kill from Ball State's Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) would follow, giving BSU an advantage it would not relinquish the rest of the game. Ball State would climb ahead by as many as five points, at 22-17, before a Durbin kill ended the stanza at 30-27.
In game two, the Cardinals pulled away early, building a six point advantage at the 9-3 mark. A kill from Durbin at the 24-14 mark would give BSU its first 10-point advantage of the night, which it would maintain at the 27-17 mark. A 6-2 Carthage run would get the Red Men within six points at 29-23, before Durbin came through with his second game-winner of the night at 30-23.
The third game would see the Cardinals climb ahead 10-6, only to have Carthage battle back and take the lead at 19-18. With the Red Men ahead 21-19, Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) and Durbin would post back-to-back kills to tied the set at 21, while Meyer and Zoran Grabovac (Des Moines, Iowa/Hoover H.S.) combined on a block assist to give BSU the lead for the final time. The Cardinals would tally two more points in the run to pull ahead 24-21.
Carthage would battle back to draw within one point at 29-28, before a pivotal Ball State timeout would put a stop to a 3-0 Red Men run. After the break, Meyer would end the match with his 14th kill of the night.
McCarthy would finish the match with nine kills, four blocks, three digs and a service ace, while Grabovac scored five kills and five blocks.
In addition to his kill in the first set, Pecker would log seven digs in the victory.
Also factoring in the win were Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) with four digs and Ted Summers-Torres (San Diego, Calif./University of San Diego H.S.).
As a team, BSU limited the Red Men to a .248 (49-20-117) attack percentage, while out-blocking their hosts 10.5 to 7. BSU also held a 39 to 30 advantage in digs.
Carthage's Shane Olson would pace all players with 20 kills in the match and would tie for match-high honors with eight digs.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will return home this weekend with a Friday match vs. Quincy (
