Ball State University
Quincy vs. Pacific
No. 15 Men?s Volleyball Rebounds With Win Over George Mason
March 24, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - The No. 15 Ball State men's volleyball team snapped its three-match losing streak with a 3-1 (30-24, 30-24, 26-30, 30-24) victory over George Mason Friday night in its opening match of the 2007 Don Shondell/Active Ankle Challenge at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals split the season series with the Patriots and improve to 11-9 on the year. GMU falls to 6-7 with the loss.
“We came out really strong in games one and two,” said head coach Joel Walton. “After a lapse in the third game, I thought our team did a great job of rebounding in the fourth game.”
Senior Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) paced the Ball State offense, pounding out match-best 25 kills, to mark the fifth time this season the 6-8 outside attack has recorded 20-plus kills in a match. He also finished the night with a .442 (25-6-43) attack percentage, while recording eight digs and five blocks.
“Nick's success on the court tonight played a large role in our victory,” continued Walton. “It was nice to see him get back on track after a rough week in California. Overall, I thought we did a lot of good things on both offense and defense in tonight's match.”
Defensively, the Cardinals had three players record double-figure digs, paced by junior Ian Peckler's (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) 11.
Senior Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) and freshman Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) each added 10, with Schulte's total marking a career-high. Both players also finish the night with nine kills and four total blocks.
In the opening set, the teams played to a 4-4 tie, before a 6-1 Cardinals' run gave BSU an advantage it would not lose the rest of the game. Meyer and Schulte started the run with back-to-back kills, while sophomore Ryan Clarke (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) added his first of seven kills on the night and logged two of his match-high tying eight total blocks.
The Cardinals built an eight-point advantage, at 18-10, on a block assist from sophomore Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) and freshman Jeff Schmitz (Fenton, Mo./St. John Vianney H.S.), before going on to win the game by six points, at 30-24, on a Schulte kill.
Ball State jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the second stanza and play to a 10-point advantage off a George Mason attack error at the 25-15 mark. After a McCarthy kill gave BSU game-point at 29-22, a Patriots' service error ended the game at 30-23.
In the third game, it was the visitors who jumped out to an early five-point lead at the 10-5 mark, and built a seven-point edge at 17-10. However, the Cardinals would not go down without a fight, rallying off six of the next seven points to draw within two at 18-16. During the rally, Rumschik scored two kills and a block assists, while Meyer added a kill and sophomore Justin Orr (Gladstone, Mo./Winnetonka H.S.) combined with Rumschik on the block.
A Clarke solo block cut the GMU advantage to one point at 24-23, while a kill from Orr and a George Mason attack error tied the frame at 26. Unfortunately, BSU would not score the rest of the game, dropping the set 30-26.
The teams would battle back-and-forth in the fourth game, only to play to a 19-19 tie. Schulte would break the tie with a kill on the next play, while Rumschik followed with a solo stuff to force a quick George Mason time out.
After a kill from the Patriots' Erik Lanham cut the Ball State lead to one, at 21-20, Clarke scored a quick kill before McCarthy tallied the next three markers for the Cardinals with a kill, a solo block and a block assists. Two more Ball State points, a kill from Meyer and a GMU ball handling error, pushed the score to 27-20.
The Cardinals went on to win the game 30-23 on a block assist from McCarthy and Schmitz.
For the match, Schmitz guided the Ball State offense to a .263 (64-28-137) attack percentage, while recording a match-best 52 assists. Freshman Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) also saw some action as setter during the contest.
Sophomore Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.) scored three kills, a dig and a block assists, while freshman Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) also saw action to round out BSU's contributors in the victory.
Defensively, the Cardinals limited the Patriots to a .105 (51-36-143) attack percentage, while out-digging GMU 49-to-39 and out-blocking them 18-to-16.5.
William Price paced the George Mason attack with 23 kills, while recording three solo blocks and four block assists. Mark Burik and Graham Sheppard each added a team-high nine digs in the contest.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will close the 2007 Don Shondell/Active Ankle Challenge tomorrow night with a 7:30 p.m. showdown with No. 9 Pacific live on the Ball State Sports Network (Muncie Cable Channel 2). Fans can also watch the match live on BallStateSports.com by purchasing an All Access pass.
“We are really looking forward to the opportunity to play a west coast team on our home court,” added Walton. “While we play a disproportionate amount of matches out west, we have had a lot of success versus west coast teams when we play them here. I hope our guys can take advantage of this opportunity.”
In the opening match of the 2007 Don Shondell/Active Ankle Challenge Friday afternoon, No. 9 Pacific (14-10) recorded a 3-1 (25-30, 30-25, 30-25, 30-20) victory over Quincy (4-19). Quincy and George Mason will square-off at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow in the day-two opener of the challenge.
