Ball State University
@ Rutgers-Newark
Men?s Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers-Newark
February 09, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
NEWARK, N.J. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team ended its coast-to-coast swing with a 3-0 (30-18, 30-27, 30-15) victory over Rutgers-Newark Saturday night at The Golden Dome.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 7-6, marking the first time the club has broken .500 this season. The Scarlet Raiders drop to 3-7 with the loss.
“This was a good weekend for us,” said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. “I was glad to see our team play as well as they did coming off a five-game match versus George Mason last night and a five-hour trip to Rutgers today.
“Overall, we worked on playing more consistent in an attempt to get ready for our big match versus Ohio State Friday. We are going to need Muncie to come out and support our team.
“It will be really important for us to get a large, energetic crowd Friday to help us get past the first-place and highest-ranked team in our conference.”
Aside from all the travel this weekend, Ball State finished its nine-day coast-to-coast swing with a 3-1 record, posting wins at Pacific, No. 14 George Mason and Rutgers-Newark. The Cardinals' lone loss was a five-game setback at No. 7 Stanford.
The Ball State offense came out on fire in the opening game Saturday night, connecting for a .722 (14-1-18) rate of success. The Cardinals finished the match hitting .389 (40-12-72) with freshman J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) leading all players with a .917 (11-0-12) mark.
Fellow BSU freshman Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) chipped in with 10 kills, while the Louisville, Ky., duo of Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) and Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) each tallied seven kills.
The Cardinals strong play at the net continued in Saturday's contest, as BSU logged 10 total blocks and limited the Scarlet Raiders to a .094 (40-31-96) hitting average.
Rutgers-Newark's Nate Stott paced all players with 16 kills, while Ball State freshman libero Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) added a match-best seven digs.
The opening game saw the teams battle to a 13-13 tie, before the Cardinals were able to capitalize on four Rutgers-Newark miscues and a block assists from Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) and Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) to pull ahead 18-14.
From there, the Cardinals finished the set with a 12-4 run capped by a game-winning kill from Meyer.
The second game started with kills from Durbin and Gasparovic, as the Cardinals built a 17-12 advantage midway through the set. The Scarlet Raiders eventually closed within one at 20-19 after a Jeff Zornig service aces capped a 7-3 RNU rally.
Ball State regained a four-point edge moments later as a service error and block assists from Pheister and Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) help BSU pull ahead 25-21.
Another Pheister and Irwin block gave Ball State game point at 29-25, while Chamberlain laid down the game-winner at 30-27.
While the Scarlet Raiders scored the first point of the third game, BSU took control of the set early after a kill from Meyer and back-to-back McCarthy service aces led to a 3-1 Ball State advantage.
The Cardinals took their first 10-point lead at 18-8 after another McCarthy service ace, before winning the match 30-15 on a Meyer kill.
In addition to out-hitting the Scarlet Raiders, Ball State held a 10-to-7 edge in blocks a 19-18 lead in digs and a 9-to-1 advantage in service aces.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena Friday for a pivotal 7:30 p.m. MIVA showdown with No. 7 Ohio State.
