UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - - The Ball State (7-5) men's volleyball team was handed its first loss in seven matches as No. 5 Penn State scored a 3-0 (30-19, 30-25, 30-22) victory over the Cardinals Friday night at Rec Hall.
“I was disappointed with the way our team came out in tonight's match,” said head coach Joel Walton. “We looked scared and timid out on the court and backed away from Penn State instead of challenging them. We served safe and gave them balls they were able to locate to their setter, which kept their offense in rhythm.”
Nick Meyer paced the Ball State attack with 12 kills in the loss, while Mark Rumschik, Todd Chamberlain and Matt McCarthy scored six apiece.
Overall, the Nittany Lions used a strong offensive attack to take down the Cardinals, out-hitting Ball State .376 (51-16-93) to .191 (37-20-89). PSU's Alex Gutor would pace all players with 18 kills, while Matt Anderson added 11.
Penn State would also serve up 10 aces, while Ball State only scored one.
BSU's Ian Peckler would tie PSU's Aaron Smith for match-high honors with seven digs.
Ball State opened the first game with a 4-3 advantage, before a 9-2 Nittany Lion run put the hosts up by six points at 12-3. After a kill from Meyer pushed the score to 12-7, the Cardinals would get no closer, dropping the set 30-19.
In the second game, the Cardinals would pull ahead by three points, at 11-8, before Penn State tied the game at 12. The Nittany Lions would follow with an 8-3 run to pull ahead by five at 20-15. The Cardinals would manage to draw within two points on three occasions, only to lose the set 30-25.
In the final set, the Cardinals would only trail by one point, at 8-7, before a five-point PSU run gave the hosts control of the set. Penn State would have match point at 29-17, but a five-point BSU run would make the score 29-22. However, the Nittany Lions finished the match at 30-22 on a kill from Jay Stauffer.
Meyer would add six digs and a pair of block assists to his stat line, while Rumschik logged three digs and a block; Chamberlain posted two digs and two blocks and McCarthy added one block.
Jeff Schmitz would compile a team-high 29 assists, two kills, two blocks and a pair of digs, while Ryan Clarke paced the Cardinals with three blocks, while adding three kills and a dig.
Also factoring in the match for Ball State were Doug Willmann with two kills and a block, Billy Ebel with the club's lone service ace and Matt Sprague with a pair of digs.
Ball State will return to action next Friday night, when the team hosts No. 7 IPFW in a pivotal Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match at 7:30 p.m. The contest will be televised live on the Ball State Sports Network thanks to a generous donation from the H.H. Gregg Center for Professional Selling.
