Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Opens League Play Friday vs. Lewis
January 30, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball:
The Ball State men's volleyball team will open its 12-match Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule Friday, when it hosts Lewis at 7:30 p.m. in the team's lone match of the week.
Cardinals Pick Up Pair of Sweeps:
BSU ended its four-match losing streak last Friday, with a 3-0 (30-15, 30-20, 30-16) sweep of the Milwaukee School of Engineering . . . On Saturday, the Cardinals pick up their second-straight sweep with a 3-0 (30-20, 30-23, 30-28) win over Juniata.
Scouting Ball State:
Ball State enters the week with a 3-4 overall record after posting a pair of wins last weekend . . . Nick Meyer currently paces the squad with a 4.67 kills-per-game average, while Matt McCarthy is second at 2.90 . . . McCarthy is BSU's top attacker by average, smashing 61 kills on 100 swings with just eight errors for a .530 rate of success . . . McCarthy has also collected a team-best 16 total blocks for a 0.76 blocks-per-game average, while Ryan Clarke has the top average at 1.40 blocks per game . . . Jeff Schmitz has started at setter for BSU over the two last weeks, posting a 12.77 assist-per-game average in the four matches . . . Ethan Pheister was BSU's starting setter for the first three matches, and has a 10.18 assist-per-game average.
Scouting Lewis:
Lewis enters the week with a perfect 7-0 overall record, including a 2-0 ledger in MIVA action . . . Last week, the Flyers tallied wins over Carthage (3-0; 30-18, 30-28, 30-25), Clarke (3-1; 30-18, 30-22, 25-30, 30-23) and Quincy (3-0; 30-28, 30-22, 30-19) . . . Jared Dayton leads the Lewis attack with a 4.68 kills-per-game average, while Drew Pickering is second at 3.14 . . . Alex Vigansky paces the Flyers blocking efforts with a 1.50 blocks-per-game average . . . Nick Perakes is the team's top defender, averaging 2.22 digs-per-game, while Jordan Vidovic and David Taylor split time as the team's setter, averaging 10.65 and 8.20 assists per game, respectively.
The All-Time Series:
Ball State owns an 18-14 advantage in the all-time series with Lewis, including wins in the last three matches . . . Last season, the Cardinals tallied a pair of sweeps over the Flyers, logging a 30-25, 30-24, 30-14 road win Feb. 3 before scoring a 30-24, 30-24, 30-26 homecourt victory April 1.
Reimer Inducted into BSU Hall of Fame:
Todd Reimer, a four-year letterwinner for Ball State from 1992-95, was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame last Saturday night . . . . Reimer helped guide Ball State to the highest ranking in program history in 1995, as BSU finished the year fifth in the AVCA Coaches Poll, having beaten all four teams ahead of them . . . For his efforts his senior season, Reimer was selected to the Asics/Volleyball Magazine All-America First Team and the AVCA All-America Second Team . . . He also earned the 1995 MIVA Most Valuable Player award and was selected to the All-MIVA Team for a third straight season . . . Reimer helped guide Ball State to the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and 1995 . . . He finished his career with 2,041 kills, which set a Ball State and MIVA record and ranked seventh in NCAA history.
Meyer Breaks Rally-Scoring Era Record:
After being limited to no kills on nine swings through the first two games at St. Francis (Jan. 21), BSU senior Nick Meyer connected for seven kills in the third set to break the BSU rally-scoring era career kills record with 1,037 . . . The previous record was 1,036 set by Jary Delgado (2001-04) . . . Meyer set up his assault on the record when he tallied a career-high 30 kills in BSU's loss at No. 15 George Mason (Jan. 19) . . . Last week, Meyer collected 21 kills to raise his career total to 1,058.
More on 1,000:
Nick Meyer enters the week having scored 1,058 career kills to rank ninth in the 44-year history of Men's Volleyball at Ball State . . . The all-time BSU career kills record is 2,041 set by Todd Reimer (1992-95) . . . The following are the five Cardinals ahead of Meyer on BSU's all-time career kills list: 8. Brian Hughes (1997-2000, 1,144); 7. Fernando De Armas (1984-87, 1,196); 6. Rodney Morgan (1988-91, 1,305); 5. Phil Eatherton (1994-97, 1,374) and 4. Greg Romano (1992-95, 1,603).
Meyer Collecting Double Figures:
With 16 kills versus Juniata, Nick Meyer raised his career total to 56 matches with double-figure kills . . . The total ranks eighth on BSU's all-time list . . . In addition, the 6-8 outside attacker has tallied 20-or-more kills in 16 career matches, which ranks fifth in BSU annals.
McCarthy Goes Errorless on the Week:
Sophomore Matt McCarthy continued to raise his team-leading attack percentage, recording 18 kills while committing no errors in BSU's two matches last week . . . For the week, he hit .783 (18-0-23) to bring his season total to a .530 (61-8-100) rate of success, which currently ranks third in the league.
The Digs Keep Coming:
After posting 17 digs in five games last week, junior libero Ian Peckler climbed to the top of the MIVA charts in digs-per-game average at 2.62 . . . sophomore Todd Chamberlain logged 11 digs in six games to raise his season average to 2.14, which is currently sixth in the league.
Offense Finding its Rhythm:
After failing to hit over .290 in the first five matches of the season, the Cardinals recorded a season-high .456 (43-7-79) attack percentage in last Friday's win over MSOE . . . In addition, BSU hit for a .406 (53-12-101) rate of success one night later versus Juniata . . . freshman Jeff Schmitz set the BSU offense in five of the six games, guiding the team to a .441 (83-15-154) mark . . . fellow freshman Ethan Pheister was the team's setter for the final game versus MSOE, leading the team to a .346 (13-4-26) attack percentage.
