Ball State University
@ Stanford
No. 7 Stanford Rallies Past Men?s Volleyball
February 03, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
STANFORD, Calif. - - The No. 7 Stanford Cardinal took a page from the Ball State men's volleyball play book Saturday night, dropping the first two games, only to rally past the Cardinals 3-2 (28-30, 25-30, 30-22, 31-29, 15-11) at the Burnham Pavilion.
The loss snaps BSU's four-match winning streak and leaves the Cardinals with a 5-6 overall record, with all six losses coming to ranked teams. Stanford improves to 7-3 with the victory.
Ball State senior Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) continued his strong play, racking up a team-best 25 kills. Durbin also tied for match-high honors with 11 digs, giving him his second double-double of the season.
Unfortunately, the BSU defense was unable to stop Stanford's Evan Romero, who paced all players with 34 kills.
The match started with the teams battling through 14 ties and seven lead changes in the first game, only to see the score end up at 28-28. Durbin gave Ball State the first set point with his fifth kill of the game, before Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) pounded down the game winner.
With Ball State trailing 2-1 in game two, Durbin responded with back-to-back kills sparking a 9-4 BSU run that put the guests from Muncie ahead for good in the frame. The Cardinals pulled ahead by as many as six points on several occasions, before winning the set 30-25 on a Stanford service error.
Game three opened with the teams drawing to a 12-12 deadlock before three-straight Cardinal points gave the hosts a 15-12 edge they would not relinquish. A kill from Stanford's Kawika Shoji ended the game at 30-22.
Ball State looked poised to win its second-straight match in for games, pulling ahead 16-10 in the fourth game, after Durbin collected three kills on four plays to cap a 9-3 run following a 7-7 tie. BSU maintained a five-point lead at 25-20, following a block assists from J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) and Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.).
The hosts responded with a six of the next seven points to tie the game a 27-27. After the teams traded the next two points, BSU setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) gave the Cardinals match-point at 29-28 with a solo block.
Unfortunately, Matt Ceran and Romero answered the call, giving the Stanford Cardinal game point at 30-29 with back-to-back kills. Stanford's Brandon Williams closed out the set with a game-winning service ace.
In the deciding fifth game, Stanford pulled ahead 6-5 and rallied off the next three points to build a 9-5 advantage. BSU managed to score the next two points, on a block assists from Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) and Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) and a Durbin kill, to draw within 9-7.
However, BSU could get no closer, losing the game 15-11 and the match 3-2 on a kill from Matt Ceran.
In addition to Durbin, Ian Peckler (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) collected 11 digs for BSU, while Chamberlain finished the match with 11 kills and McCarthy tallied 10 kills.
Pheister guided the BSU offense to a .309 (63-20-139) rate of success, dishing out 47 assists, while adding seven kills, six digs and three blocks.
For the host Cardinal, Shoji added 12 kills and 11 digs for a double-double of his own, while Ceran collected 10 markers.
Stanford finished the night with a .349 (79-26-152) to .309 attacking advantage, despite being out-blocked by Ball State 10-to-8.
Stanford also held a 47-to-42 lead in digs and a 9-to-2 advantage in aces.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Friday (Feb. 8) when it head to the east coast for a 7 p.m. showdown with George Mason.
