Ball State University
NJIT
Men?s Volleyball Wins Third Straight, Topping NJIT 3-1
January 26, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team picked up its third-straight win Saturday evening with a 3-1 (30-17, 30-24, 26-30, 30-22) victory over the New Jersey Institute of Technology at Worthen Arena.
Tonight's match marked the end of a four-match home stand for the Cardinals, which saw BSU post a 3-1 record to improve to 4-5 on the year. The Highlanders fall to 1-1 after playing just their second match of the year.
“I thought we turned in a nice all around effort,” said BSU head coach Joel Walton. “While we did struggle in the third game, I liked how we were able to bounce back and regain control in the fourth game.”
Nine different Ball State players recorded at least one kill in the contest, paced by senior Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) who logged 14. Durbin has led the Cardinals in kills in each of the six matches he has played this season, plus averages a team-best 4.29 kill-per-game over the span.
“I thought Pat did a good job,” added Walton when asked about Durbin's night. “He is our team's leader. He gives us so many different things each and every night, whether it is blocking, attacking, passing or serving.”
Fellow Louisville native and high school teammate junior Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) also turned in a strong effort for the Cardinals, adding nine kills, a pair of digs and a couple of blocks.
Freshman Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) added six kills, while three Cardinals finished the contest with five markers, including junior Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) who also logged a match-high five total blocks. McCarthy hit .566 (5-0-9) in the contest, raising his team-leading attack percentage to .491 (93-14-161).
Two Highlanders managed to tally double-digit kills in the match as well, paced by Amobi Armstrong, who tallied a match-best 18. Eduardo Welter added 11 kills.
The match opened with the teams playing to a 5-5 tie, before a kill from Durbin and a NJIT attack error gave the Cardinals a lead they did not relinquish the rest of the frame.
BSU grabbed its first double-digit advantage at the 25-14 mark off a pair of aces from sophomore setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.), who tallied 31 assists, nine digs, three aces and three blocks in three games on the night.
Imwalle ended the game at 30-17 with his second kill in the final four points.
In the second game, the teams played to a 9-9 deadlock before back-to-back NJIT errors gave BSU a two-point lead at 11-9. Like the first set, the Cardinals did not trail the remainder of the frame, pulling ahead by eight points at 26-18, before winning the game 30-24.
Despite holding a four-point lead at the 9-5 mark, behind some strong serving from sophomore Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) which helped BSU rally from a 5-3 hole, the Cardinals found themselves trailing 13-10 after an 8-1 Highlander run.
NJIT eventually built a six-point lead at 21-15, before holding a five-point edge at 24-19. Ball State answered the call, rallying off the next five points, capped by a kill from sophomore Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.), to tie the game at 24-24.
Unfortunately, the Highlanders responded with a 5-0 run of their own and went on to win the game 30-26 on an Armstrong kill.
With Ball State holding a 3-1 advantage early in the fourth game, Robert Thomas collected back-to-back service aces, following a kill from Welter, to give the guests a 4-3 lead. It turned out to be the Highlanders last edge of the night, as Durbin connected for a pair of kills, sparking a 10-4 BSU run that pushed the score to 13-7.
The Cardinals climbed ahead by eight at the 21-13 mark, and maintained the margin at the final whistle, as a McCarthy and Pheister block assists ended the game 30-22 and the match 3-1.
BSU's offense ended the match with a .291 (51-19-110 ) attack percentage, while the Cardinals' defense limited NJIT to a .075 (49-39-133) rate of success.
Ball State also held a 12.5-to-6 edge in blocks and a 39-to-36 advantage in digs. The Highlanders out-aced Ball State 8-to-6.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Friday (Feb. 1), when it travels to Pacific for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest which opens a four-match coast-to-coast road trip for the Cardinals.
