Ball State University
@ George Mason
Men?s Volleyball Battles Past No. 14 George Mason, 3-2
February 08, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
FAIRFAX, Va. - - Behind career highs of 14 kills and 13 total blocks from freshman J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.), the Ball State men's volleyball team found its way back to the win column with a 3-2 (33-35, 30-24, 26-30, 30-26, 17-15) victory at No. 14 George Mason Friday evening.
The Cardinals, who did not arrive at their hotel until 3:30 a.m. Friday morning, were able to overcome limited rest and improve to 6-6 overall. The Patriots fell to 5-3 with the loss.
“Tonight's match was a true battle,” said BSU head coach Joel Walton. “I am really proud of the way we were able to rally back to win. While there were a lot of strong performances from our team, I thought J.D. played a key role in the victory.”
“It has been a long time since we have won here,” added Walton, whose team's last victory at George Mason came on April 9, 2000. “It fells nice to finally leave with another win.”
In total, four Cardinals recorded double-digit kills in the match, paced by Matt McCarthy's (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) 18.
Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) was second on the squad with 15 markers, followed by Gasparovic's 14 and Marcus Imwalle's (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) 11.
Durbin also collected his third double-double of the season, pacing all players with 18 digs.
The Patriots' were led offensively by Kyle Gramit, who recorded a match and career-high 31 kills. He also paced GMU with 17 digs.
Neither team was able to gain a clear advantage in the opened set, as the teams played to a 28-28 deadlock. R.J Goubeaux gave George Mason the first game point with a kill, while McCarthy answered back with a tally of his own re-tying the set at 29-29.
The Cardinals followed with a triple block from McCarthy, Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) and Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) to claim its first game point at 30-29, but back-to-back kills from GMU's Hudson Bates put the hosts back on top 31-30.
Pheister broke the Patriots' momentum with a kill, while Gramit and McCarthy traded kills pushing the score to 32-32. A Bates attack error gave BSU its second game point at 33-32, but after a George Mason time out, a service error and back-to-back blocks allowed GMU to win the set 35-33.
George Mason was able to build a 17-12 lead in the second game, before BSU's Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) sprung to life with a kill and a service ace to help bring the Cardinals within two at 17-15. Ball State eventually took a 21-20 lead on back-to-back block assists from Sprague and Gasparovic.
After a McCarthy smash to the hardwood gave BSU a 23-22 edge, Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North) added a service ace, McCarthy and Pheister combined for a block and Sprague added a solo stuff to make the score 26-22.
McCarthy added two more kills, while Pheister and Gasparovic recorded back-to-back block assists to end the game at 30-26.
Ball State jumped out to the early lead in the third frame, and held a 25-21 advantage, only to see George Mason rally off the next six points to pull ahead 27-25. A Sprague kill got the Cardinals back within one, at 27-26, but the Patriots scored the final three points to win the game.
The Cardinals looked determined to win the fourth game fast, pulling ahead by eight points at 20-12. Unfortunately, a 9-1 George Mason run eventually tied the set at 21-21. After the teams traded the next two points, a pair of GMU attack errors gave BSU a 24-22 edge.
From there, BSU controlled the net, scoring four total blocks - - including solo stuffs from Chamberlain and Gasparovic - - and went on to win the frame 30-26 on a Gasparovic kill.
The fifth game opened with a 5-5 tie, before a pair of kills from Gramit, surrounding a pair of George Mason blocks, gave the hosts a 9-5 advantage. BSU responded with a 4-0 run of its own, as kills from Chamberlain and Durbin, as well as two more blocks - - both including Durbin - - tied the score at 9-9.
After the teams traded points to an 11-11 tie, a Gramit kill and a BSU attack error pushed GMU ahead 13-11. Gasparovic and Gramit offset each other with kills on the next two plays making the score 14-12.
Chamberlain followed with his sixth kill of the night, while Gasparovic added just his second career service ace to tie the score at 14-14. George Mason recorded the first match point off a kill from Bates at 15-14, but McCarthy responded with a BSU kill to tie the game at 15-15.
From there, BSU turned to the serving of freshman Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.), who did not disappoint, logging a service ace to give the Cardinals match point at 16-15. Another strong Meyer serve eventually led to a McCarthy match-winning kill.
As a team, the Cardinals finished the match with a season-high 25.5 total blocks, led by Gasparovic (3 solo, 10 assists), McCarthy (1 solo, 7 assists) and Pheister (7 assists). George Mason finished the match with 17.5 team blocks.
Behind a career-high tying 61 assists from Pheister, Ball State was able to out-high the Patriots .234 (70-29-175) to .175 (83-48-200).
GMU held a 61-to-59 edge in digs, while BSU scored four aces to the Patriots' three.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will look for its seventh win in 10 matches Saturday, when it plays Rutgers-Newark at 7 p.m. BSU fans can follow the action with live stats by CLICKING HERE.
