Ball State University
Lewis
No. 15 Men?s Volleyball Picks Up Pivotal Road Win at Lewis
April 12, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - - The No. 15 Ball State men's volleyball team snapped its five-match road losing streak Wednesday night with a pivotal 3-2 (30-25, 23-30, 30-26, 29-31, 15-7) Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association victory at Lewis' Neil Carey Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 15-11 (7-4 MIVA) on the season and secure the No. 4 seed and a first-round home match in the 2007 MIVA Tournament which begins next Saturday. Lewis falls to 17-12 (5-7 MIVA) with the loss.
While senior Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S) paced all players with 23 kills in the match, it was the play of freshman setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) who turned the tide for the Cardinals in the final three games.
Pheister guided the BSU offense to a .404 (50-12-94) attack percentage over the final three games, while adding four digs, two kills and one block. BSU hit .474 (22-4-38) in the third game, .326 (21-7-43) in game four and .462 (7-1-13) in the fifth set under Pheister's guidance.
Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) was BSU's top attacker by average, smashing a career-high 17 kills on 26 swings with no errors for a .654 rate of success. McCarthy also paced all players with a match-high eight total blocks.
Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) also collected double-figure kills for the Cardinals, logging 16 on the evening to go along with a match-high three service aces. He also tallied three digs and a pair of block assists.
With his third of four digs in the third game, BSU junior libero Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) became just the eighth player in program history to record 700 career digs. Peckler finished the match with 10 digs, moving his career total to 705.
After falling behind 12-9 in the opening set, the Cardinals used a Flyer service error and a strong blocking effort by McCarthy to post a 10-0 run to pull ahead 19-12. During the rally, McCarthy scored three total blocks, one solo and two assists, while Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.), Jeff Schmitz (Fenton, Mo./St. John Vianney H.S.) and Meyer each added a kill.
Ball State was able to extend its advantage to nine points at the 23-14 mark off another Meyer kill. However, the Flyers would mount a mini-rally of their own, drawing within four points at 24-20 and forcing a Ball Sate time out.
After trading the first two points out of the break, Meyer and Ryan Clarke (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) connected for back-to-back kills to push the lead back to six at 27-21. A McCarthy kill gave BSU game point at 29-23, while a Flyers' service errors ended the frame at 30-25.
Ball State's Chamberlain opened the second stanza with a pair of service ace, helping the Cardinals play to a 10-6 advantage. The host Flyers eventually tied the score at 16, before the teams played to a 19-19 deadlock.
Lewis broke the tie with three-straight points, including a pair of kills from Billy Sahagian, making the score 22-19. The Cardinals could get no closer than two points the rest of the frame, eventually dropping the set 30-23.
After struggling on both offense and defense in the second game, the Cardinals turned to Pheister for a spark in the third game. The freshman setter was able to deliver, guiding the BSU offense to a .474 (22-4-38) attack percentage, including setting up eight Chamberlain kills.
The teams played to a 4-4 tie to open the third game, before a pair of Flyer attack errors gave BSU the edge for good. BSU pulled head by five points, at 15-10, as Chamberlain capped an 11-6 Ball State run with a pair of his eight kills in the set. The Cardinals pulled head by six points off one of McCarthy's five kills in the game at 19-13.
The host Flyers battled back within two points at the 22-20 mark, only to see kills from Chamberlain and Pheister push the lead back to four. Meyer gave the Cardinals game point at 29-26, while a Lewis attack error ended the set at 30-26.
Ball State looked poised to win the match in four, pulling head 16-10 and 25-20 in the fourth game. However, a 5-0 Flyer run, including back-to-back kills from Nathan Klass, tied the game at 25-25. After playing to a 29-29 tie, a Sahagian kill and a BSU attack error ended the game 31-29 in favor of the hosts.
The Cardinals came out determined to win the fifth game, scoring the first three points, before a triple block from Chamberlain, Clarke and Pheister forced Lewis to call its first time out at the 9-3 mark. BSU went on to win the game 15-7 on a McCarthy kill.
Also factoring in the win for the Cardinals were sophomore Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.) and freshmen Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.), Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.).
Overall, the Cardinals finished the match out-hitting the Flyers .329 (76-27-149) to .289 (71-28-149). BSU also held a 4-to-2 edge in aces. Both teams recorded 11.5 blocks, while Lewis held a 41-to-39 lead in digs.
The Ball State men's volleyball team concludes the MIVA portion of its 2007 schedule Friday, when it hosts No. 6 Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
