Ball State University
Ohio State
No. 10 Men's Volleyball Falls In MIVA Championship
April 27, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - The 10th-ranked Ball State men's volleyball team saw its 2008 season come to end Saturday evening with a 3-0 (30-19, 30-24, 30-21) setback to ninth-ranked Ohio State in the championship match of the MIVA Tournament at St. John Arena.
With the loss, the Cardinals end the season with a 21-10 overall record, marking the 32nd 20-plus win season in the 45-year history of the program.
The Buckeyes, who improve to 20-7 with the victory, advance to the 2008 NCAA Championships, which will begin Thursday (May 1) in Irvine, Calif.
For their efforts during the entire tournament, Ball State seniors Patrick Durbin (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) and Ian Peckler (Vernon Hill, Ill./Vernon Hill H.S.) were named to the 2008 MIVA All-Tournament team.
Joining the BSU duo on the squad were Ian Anderson (Loyola), Brett Versen (Ohio State), Robbie Klein (Ohio State) and Tournament Most Valuable Player Daniel Mathews (Ohio State).
Durbin, who broke the Ball State rally-scoring era single-season kill record in Thursday's match versus Lewis, scored eight kills versus the Buckeyes to raise his career total to 928 placing him 15th in school annals.
The MIVA's attacking leader in 2008, Durbin scored 465 kills this season, passing Nick Meyer's (2004-07) total of 455 set last season. Durbin hit .309 on the way to the record, while Meyer hit .232 last season.
While the Buckeyes limited Peckler to just a pair of digs Saturday, he finished his career as BSU's all-time leader in digs (1,054) and matches with double-figure digs (52).
Junior Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) was BSU's top attack in the loss, recording nine kills, while adding a team-best five digs.
Versen posted match highs of 15 kills and seven total blocks for the Buckeyes, while tournament MVP Mathews guided OSU to a .364 attack percentage while collecting a match-best nine digs. Ohio State hit .714( 16-1-21) in the opening set, in which Mathews handed out 15 assists, while posting three digs and a pair of blocks.
Klein also finished the match with double-digit kills for the Buckeyes, as he connected for 10.
In the opening set, the teams played to a 4-4 tie before a Ben Spurlock kill and back-to-back BSU hitting errors gave the hosts a 7-4 advantage. The Cardinals were able to cut the gap to two points on a couple of occasions, before a 5-0 OSU run pushed the score to 15-8.
From there, the Buckeyes controlled play, building a 10-point lead at 27-17 before winning the game 30-19 on a block from Mathews and John Albertson.
In the first two meetings this season, the winner of the first game ended up losing the match, however, this was not the case tonight, as Ohio State was able to survive an early Ball State surge in the second set.
The Cardinals opened game two with a kill from Durbin and pulled ahead by two points at the 7-5 mark. Unfortunately, a four-point OSU rally followed, giving the hosts a 9-7 advantage. Ball State stayed within one point at the 10-9 mark, only to see a 6-1 Buckeyes' rally push the score to 16-10.
Ball State was able to get within two points at 18-16, and remained down by two points at 22-20. Ohio State would not be denied the win, however, rallying off eight of the final 12 points, winning the frame 30-24.
Mathews scored the first point of the third game, only to see BSU go on a 5-1 run thanks in part to three OSU errors. With Ball State holding onto a slim 12-11 advantage after a kill from Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.), the Buckeyes went on a 10-1 run to end BSU's hope of a come-back.
Ohio State reached championship point at 29-21 on a triple block from Jason Tobkin, Spurlock and Verson, while a BSU attack error ended the game at 30-21.
For the match, Ohio State was able to limit the BSU offense to a .053 (33-28-95) attack percentage, while out-blocking the Cardinals 15-to-5.5. OSU also scored 30 digs to Ball State's 21, while logging five aces to BSU's two.
