Ball State University
@ Loyola-Chicago
No. 15 Loyola Sweeps Men?s Volleyball
January 12, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
With the loss, the Cardinals drop to 1-4 (1-1 MIVA) on the year and suffer their 10th-straight road loss to the Ramblers. No. 15 Loyola, who was opening the season versus
Senior Patrick Durbin (
“Tonight's match was all about serving and receiving,” said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. “Loyola kept us out of system for much of the match and we were not able to run our offense.”
Overall, the Ramblers held a .336 (59-18-122) to .200 (36-17-95) attacking advantage, with three players logging double-figure kills.
Loyola's Kris Berzins paced all players with 18 kills, while Ian Anderson added 17 and Joe Guntli collected 10.
"Defensively, we are still not blocking and digging at the level that it takes to win in our conference," added Walton.
Junior Matt McCarthy (
The Cardinals opened the match by scoring the first two points before a kill from junior Ryan Clarke (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South H.S.) gave the Cardinals a 3-2 advantage. Unfortunately, Loyola rattled off the next five points and never looked back, winning the set 30-24.
In the second frame, a pair of Loyola attack errors and a Durbin kill gave Ball State an early 3-0 advantage. Ball State pulled ahead by five points at the 12-7 mark and maintained a four-point lead at 17-13.
However, the Ramblers put together an 11-3 run, capped by back-to-back Guntli kills, to pull ahead 24-20. The Cardinals closed the gap to two points on three occasions before losing the set 30-26.
The third game was the closest of the night with 16 ties and six lead changes. Ball State held the largest advantage of the set at 20-15, off a solo block from McCarthy, only to see the host respond and tie the game at 24-24.
A kill from freshman Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) gave the Cardinals a brief 25-24 advantage, but Loyola tallied the next three points and end on to win the game 30-26 on a Mike Hutz service ace.
The
