Ball State University
Ohio State
Comeback Falls Short As Men?s Volleyball Falls At OSU
April 27, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - The No. 13 Ball State men's volleyball team saw its comeback fall short Thursday evening at St. John Arena, dropping a hard-fought 1-3 (26-30, 25-30, 30-26, 29-31) battle to No. 6 Ohio State in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament semifinal action.
With the loss, the Cardinals end the 2007 season with an 18-12 overall record. The Buckeyes, who improve to 23-3 on the year, advance to face No. 10 IPFW in the championship match of the 2007 MIVA Tournament Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Mastodons defeated No. 11 Loyola 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 30-21) in the day's first semifinal contest.
In the final match of his collegiate career, BSU senior Nick Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) paced the Ball State offense with 21 kills for his 23rd career match with 20-or-more kills. In addition, the 6-8 outside attacker collected 10 digs for his fifth double-double of the season.
Senior Mark Rumschik (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park H.S.) also added double-figure kills in his final college match, finishing the contest with 10, while adding five digs and hitting .381 (10-2-21).
Ball State libero Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) paced all players with 14 digs, marking the 14th time this season the 6-3 junior has logged double-figure digs.
In the opening game, the teams played to a 5-5 tie before a pair of service aces from freshman setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.), who finished the contest with a match and career-high three aces, and a Meyer kill gave the Cardinals an 8-5 advantage. OSU would rally back to tie the set at 10, before the teams played to a 22-22 tie.
Unfortunately, the host Buckeyes rallied off six of the next seven points to pull ahead 28-23. A kill from BSU's Ryan Clarke (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) stopped the momentum for a moment, but the Cardinals could not recover, dropping the game 30-26.
The second game saw the Cardinals build a 13-10 advantage before the Buckeyes managed to tie the set three points later. With the score still tied at 16, Ohio State rallied off another 6-1 run to jump ahead 22-17.
Pheister's third service ace of the night and an OSU attack error cut the lead to a 24-21, however, the Buckeyes answered with the next three points to regain a six-point edge at 27-21. A Meyer kill and service ace gave Ball State some late life, but Ohio State went on to win the set 30-25.
With the Cardinals trailing two-games-to-none, a pair of first-year players were able to help BSU rally back and take the third game.
Jeff Schmitz (Fenton, Mo./St. John Vianney) entered the match at setter, guiding the BSU offense to a match-high .444 (15-3-27) attack percentage in the set, while sophomore Justin Orr (Gladstone, Mo./Winnetonka H.S.) added five of his seven kills in the third frame.
Still, the teams battle to a 23-23 tie in the game before a pair of pivotal OSU attack errors gave Ball State a 25-23 advantage. After a kill from Ohio State's Brett Versen cut the gap back to one, a kill from BSU's Meyer and a Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) service ace gave BSU a 27-23 lead.
After an Ohio State timeout, another Versen kill followed by a service error from OSU's Layne Dreven pushed the score to 28-25. Orr gave the Cardinals game point on the next play, while two points later Meyer smashed the game-winning kill.
The fourth game saw the teams battle to a 16-16 tie before a 5-2 run gave the Cardinals the biggest lead either team would have in the set at 21-18. Ball State maintained the three-point lead at 25-22 before Ohio State managed to tie the game at 28-28.
Orr gave the Cardinals game point at 29-28, but OSU would not let Ball State force a fifth and deciding game, scoring the next three points to win the game 31-29 and the match 3-1.
McCarthy finished the night with six kills, while tying for match-high honors with four total blocks. Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.) also logged six kills in the match, while adding five digs and a pair of blocks.
Schmitz led BSU's setting duo with 29 assists, while Pheister added 22 helpers. Both setters scored a kill in the match, with Pheister adding five digs and Schmitz scoring four along with a pair of blocks.
Also factoring in the match for the Cardinals were: Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) with five kills and a pair of digs; Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) and Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.).
Ohio State finished the match out-hitting the Cardinals .282 (72-28-156) to .247 (60-23-150), despite BSU holding a hitting edge in the final two games. Ball State finished the match with a 7.5 to 6.5 lead in team blocks and a 5 to 4 edge in aces. Both teams scored 48 digs.
Offensively, Versen paced the Buckeyes with 20 kills, while Robbie Klein added 18 kills and Sam Stevens scored 17. Versen also paced Ohio State with 10 digs, finishing the match with a double-double.
