Ball State University Athletics
No. 14 Men's Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker to No. 10 IPFW
April 27, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 14 Ball State men's volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 (26-30, 30-24, 30-28, 19-30, 15-13) loss to No. 10 IPFW in Thursday's opening semifinal match of the 2006 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament. With the loss, Ball State ends its season with a 21-7 record. IPFW (22-6) advances to the MIVA Tournament Finals to face No. 8 Loyola who swept No. 15 Ohio State in the second semifinal match.
In the loss, junior outside attacker Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) paced the Cardinals offense with a career-high tying 18 kills. He also posted a season-best 13 digs in the match for his third double-double of the season, while collecting three total blocks, two aces and an assist.
Senior outside attacker Evan Berg (Bristol, Wis./Central H.S.) also turned in a solid night, tying a season-high with 16 digs while smashing 11 kills for his second double-double of the year. He also tallied three blocks and a pair of assists.
Fellow senior setter Dave Carlson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids H.S.) tied for match-high honors with 58 assists, while adding five kills on six swings for a .833 attack percentage. Carlson also served up a match-best four aces - - compared to three for the whole IPFW team - -, nine digs and a pair of blocks.
BSU's third senior, middle attacker Zoran Grabovac (Des Moines, Iowa/Hoover H.S.), recorded three kills and a block assist in his final match.
The opening frame saw the teams battle back-and-forth for the first 36 points, with neither team pulling ahead by more than three points to the 18-18 mark. However, a Mastodon's service ace and a kill from Durbin would put the Cardinals ahead for good at 20-18. Durbin would also add the final two points to give Ball State a 30-26 game-one victory.
The second stanza started almost exactly like the first, with the teams once again battling to an 18-18 tie, with neither team pulling ahead by more than two points. Unfortunately, it was the Mastodons that gained the 20-18 advantage, before pulling ahead by four at 22-18. After a kill from Grabovac, IPFW would add five of the next six points before going on to win the game 30-24.
Ball State came out on fire in the third game, pulling ahead by five points at 9-4 on a kill from Carlson. BSU would maintain a four-point edge at 14-10, before a 6-2 Mastodons run tied the score at 16-16. After the third 18-18 tie of the match, BSU would regain a three-point edge at 23-20 on another Carlson kill.
IPFW would manage to battle back again to tie the score at 25-25, before taking its first lead of the game at 26-25 on a BSU attack error. After pushing the score to 28-28, IPFW would score the final two points on a Brock Ullrich kill and a BSU attack error to win the set 30-28.
Trailing two-games-to-one, Ball State exploded out of the gate for the second-straight set in the third game, building an 11-4 advantage. The Mastodons would put a scare in the Cardinals, drawing within two points at 11-9, before BSU tallied seven of the next eight points to remove any doubt and pull ahead 18-10. BSU would go on to win the game by 11 points, 30-19, on a kill from Berg.
Ball State came out firing again in the fifth game, scoring the first two points to pull ahead 2-0. IPFW would answer with the next two points before the teams battled to an 11-11 tie.
IPFW would break the tie by scoring the next three points to force match point at 14-11. Ball State would attempt to mount a comeback, with Berg and Durbin smashing back-to-back kills to push the score to 14-13. Unfortunately for BSU, the Mastodons would end the match at 15-13 on a kill from C.J. Macias.
Junior outside attacker Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) added 16 kills, while sophomore libero Ian Peckler (Mt. Vernon, Ill./Mt.VernonH.S.) tallied 15 digs. Meyer also finished the contest with five total blocks, six digs, two service aces and an assist. Peckler added three assists and a kill.
Sophomore middle attacker Doug Willmann (St. Louis, Mo./Francis Howell North H.S.) added six kills and five blocks, while freshman middle attacker Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) posted six kills, four blocks and an ace.
Freshman outside attacker Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) also scored six kills.
Rounding out BSU's contributors were junior outside attacker Mark Rumschik (OrchardPark, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) and sophomore setter Ted Summers-Torres (San Diego, Calif./Universityof San Diego H.S.).
Overall, the Cardinals out-hit the Mastodons .242 (72-29-178) to .224 (65-28-165), while holding a 14 to 10 edge in blocks, a 61 to 56 advantage in digs and a 9 to 3 lead in aces.
Despite Macias scoring the match-winner, BSU was also able to limit the MIVA's leading attacker to 17 kills and a .000 (17-17-53) attack percentage. However, IPFW's Josh Stewart led all attackers with a career-high 21 kills while hitting at a .556 (
