Nick Meyer Reaches 1,000 Kills in Men?s Volleyball Loss

     Muncie, Ind. - - Despite 20 kills from senior Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.), the 15th-ranked Ball State (1-2) men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (30-28, 20-30, 30-27, 31-29) setback to St. Francis (2-1) Saturday night at Worthen Arena.
     With his 20th kill of the night, Meyer became just the second BSU player in the rally scoring era (2001-present) to record 1,000 career kills. Jary Delgado (2001-04) holds the BSU rally scoring record with 1,036 kills.
     “Nick has been a great attacker for our program all four years he as been on the team,” said head coach Joel Walton. “He is a hard worker and a model student-athlete. I am proud of this accomplishment for him and proud of his hard work as a leader for our program.”
     Despite the 20 kills from Meyer, the Cardinals offense as a whole struggled, hitting just .184 (59-31-152) in the loss.
     “We have a lot of things to improve on, primarily with our offense,” said Walton. “In addition, our passing was sub-par in tonight's match, which killed our ability to make plays in-system. We also have to make better decisions on out-of-system balls.”
     Sophomore Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) turned in the best BSU hitting effort percentage wise in the contest, logging 13 kills on 20 swings with just two errors for a .550 rate of success. McCarthy would also pace all Cardinals at the net with four total blocks.
     The opening set was a back-and-forth battle through the first 28 points, with the teams playing to a 14-14 stalemate. An Red Flash attack error would then spark a six-point BSU run - - which also included a pair of kills from freshman setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) - - to give the Cardinals a 20-14 advantage.
     St. Francis would whittle away the BSU lead, however, eventually tying the score at 27-27. After the teams traded the next two points, a service ace from the Red Flash's Nick Rivett and a BSU attack error ended the game at 30-28.
     In the second stanza, the Cardinals tallied the first three points, only to see the visitors pull ahead at the 8-7 mark. A kill from Meyer would tie the score at 8-8 and spark a four-point run to put the Cardinals up for good in the game. St. Francis would get as close as one point at 15-14, only to see the Cardinals score four of the next five points on their way to a 30-20 game-two victory.
     The third frame would be played to a 15-15 tie, before kills from SFU's Jordan Varee and Travis Fox gave the guests a 17-15 lead. After trailing by four points at 20-16 and 24-20, the Cardinals would manage to tie the score at 26-26 on a block assists from McCarthy and senior Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) followed by a Meyer kill.
      After a St. Francis time-out, the Cardinals would take a brief 27-26 lead on a Red Flash attack error. However, back-to-back kills from Varee and a block assist from Fox and Marc Honore would give SFU game point at 29-27. After a BSU time-out, Honore - - who finished the match with a double-double of 15 kills and 11 total blocks - - would smash the game-winner.
     The Cardinals looked determined to force a deciding fifth game, jumping out to an 11-5 advantage in the fourth set. Ball State maintained a five-point edge at the 15-10 mark, when Meyer smashed his 1,000th career kill.
     The Ball State advantage would eventually grow to six points, at the 18-12 mark, before a 9-4 St. Francis run brought the score to 22-21. BSU looked to regain its momentum, scoring the next three points, but a well-used Red Flash time-out reversed the flow of the game and set up a game-tying four-point run from the visitors.
     With the score deadlocked at 25-25, McCarthy would record his 12th kill of the night to put the Cardinals ahead 26-25. Sophomore transfer Justin Orr (Gladstone, Mo./Winnetonka H.S.) would follow with his third service ace of the night to give BSU a two-point lead at 27-25.
     St. Francis would score three of the next four points, tying the score at 28 all, before a Honore attack error gave BSU game-point at 29-28. Unfortunately, a BSU service error and back-to-back blocks would give the Red Flash the game win at 31-29 and the match victory at 3-1.
     In addition to his 20 kills on the night, Meyer tallied nine digs and a service ace, while Orr added three kills, two digs and two total blocks to his three aces. Rumschik would end the night with three kills, three digs and a block.
     Pheister would finish the match with career-bests of 47 assists, eight digs and four kills, while adding a pair of blocks and an ace.
     Sophomore Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S) was the only Cardinal to collect double-figure digs on the night, logging a career-high of 10. He also scored six kills, a block assists and an ace.
     Junior libero Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) finished the night with nine digs, while senior Doug Willmann (St. Louis, Mo./Francis Howell North H.S.) added four kills, three blocks and three digs. Freshman Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) scored a career-high six kills and his first career block assists.
     Also seeing action for the Cardinals were freshman Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) with a service ace and Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.).
     In addition to Honore's double-double, Varee would tie for match-high honors with 20 kills for St. Francis. Zach Nanni would pace all players with 13 digs.
     For the match, the Cardinals were able to limit the Red Flash to a .166 (54-30-145) attack percentage. Both teams would tally eight aces, while St. Francis held a commanding 17.5 to 8 lead in blocks and a slim 47 to 46 edge in digs.
     The Ball State men's volleyball team will look to snap its two-match losing streak next Friday, when its plays its first road match of the year at George Mason. BSU will also look to avenge tonight's loss next Sunday when it travels to St. Francis.

Nick Meyer Reaches 1,000 Kills in Men?s Volleyball Loss

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Players Mentioned

Todd Chamberlain

Billy Ebel

Matt McCarthy

Nick Meyer

Justin Orr

Ian Peckler

Ethan Pheister

Mark Rumschik

Matt Sprague

Mark Termion