Ball State University
Mercyhurst
No. 15 Men?s Volleyball Sails Past Lakers In Three
April 01, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The No. 15 Ball State men's volleyball team extended its winning streak to four matches Saturday evening, cruising to a 3-0 (30-22, 30-18, 30-27) victory over Mercyhurst at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 14-9 overall and to 5-2 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Mercyhurst falls to 2-20 (0-11 MIVA) with the loss.
“We enter the last two weeks of the regular season with some important matches coming up,” said head coach Joel Walton. “While we have been able to take care of business the last two weeks, we need to focus on going on the road and beating Loyola, IPFW and Lewis.”
BSU enters the last two weeks of the regular season trailing only No. 7 Ohio State (18-2, 7-1 MIVA), who suffered its first MIVA loss of the season at No. 14 Loyola this evening.
In tonight's contest, senior Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) was the only player to record double-figure kills, with 14. Meyer's final kill of the match was the 1,300th of his career, making him only the seventh player in school history to reach 1,300 kills.
Overall, 13 different Cardinals saw action in the win, with sophomore Justin Orr (Gladstone, Mo./Winnetonka H.S.) ranking second on the squad with seven kills. Senior Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) and sophomore Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.) each tallied six kills.
After falling behind 2-1 in the opening set, a kill from sophomore Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) and a Rumschik service ace sparked a 5-1 BSU run to put the Cardinals ahead 6-3. The Cardinals pulled head by seven points at the 19-12 mark, only to see the Lakers rally within two at 22-20.
However, kills from Meyer and Rumschik opened a 7-2 BSU run to give the Cardinals game point at 29-22. Meyer finished off the frame with his sixth kill off a set from freshman Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.).
In the second game, the Lakers would hold a two-point advantage at 9-7, only to see a Orr rally the Cardinals with a kill, before going on a six-point service run to push the score to 14-9 in favor of BSU. From there, the Cardinals cruised to a 10-point edge at 25-15, before winning the game 30-18 on a triple block from Orr, Pheister and Termion.
The third game was the closest of the night, with the teams playing to a 24-24 tie before back-to-back kills from Termion and Orr put the Cardinals ahead 26-24. The teams traded the next five points, making the score 28-27, before kills from Meyer and Rumschik ended the game at 30-27 and the match at 3-0.
Freshman Jeff Schmitz (Fenton, Mo./St. John Vianney H.S.) led the Cardinals with 19 assists, while tying Rumschik for team-high honors with three total blocks - - including a pair of solo stuffs.
In addition to his six kills, Termion collected a team-best six digs, while Meyer and Schmitz each logged five. BSU junior libero Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) scored three digs in the contest.
Also factoring in the win for the Cardinals were: sophomore Ryan Clarke (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) with two kills and a block; freshman Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood H.S.) with two blocks, a kill and an ace; freshman Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) with a dig; freshman Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) with two kills and freshman Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) with three digs, a kill and a block assist.
As a team, the Cardinals out-hit the Lakers .256 (46-23-90) to .036 (26-23-83), while holding a 30-to-19 edge in digs and a 4-to-1 advantage in aces. Mercyhurst out-blocked the Cardinals 11.5 to 9.5.
Dave Newman and Tim Wagner each collected seven kills for the Lakers, while David Hatten recorded a match-high eight digs.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will return to the road next week, starting Thursday with a 7 p.m. (CT) match at No. 14 Loyola.
