Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
0-2
Penn State
4-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 20 | 30 | 19 | 26 | 1 |
| Penn State | 30 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 3 |
No. 1 Penn State Tops No. 13 Men's Volleyball
January 24, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - - Despite several strong individual performances, the Ball State (0-2) men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (30-20, 24-30, 30-19, 30-26) setback to top-ranked Penn State (4-0) Friday night at Rec Hall.
“We made a couple of good steps tonight,” said BSU head coach Joel Walton. “At times we passed well and ran good offense. However, we are still lacking consistency. What hurt us late in the match was a breakdown in our passing.”
Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) led the Cardinals with a nine kills, seeing action in the final two games. He also finished the match with a .615 (9-1-13) attack percentage, while adding a pair of digs.
“Schulte came off the bench tonight and gave us a lift,” added Walton. “Meyer and Spadavecchio also gave us a lift in the second game. However, we are still looking for a group to gel and play consistently.”
J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) added eight kills and a .583 (8-1-12) rate of success for the Cardinals, while Andy Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) and Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) each tagged seven kills.
Nelson also tied for team-high honors with five block assists, while adding a .545 (7-1-11) attack percentage. Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Ka./Bishop Miege H.S.) tied for match-high honors with a career-best 14 digs.
BSU setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S) guided the offense to a .228 (48-22-114) attack percentage, while tying Nelson for team-high honors with five block assists.
Ryan Sweitzer led the Penn State attack with a match-high 15 digs, while Max Lipsitz added 14 and Will Price deposited 13. PSU libero Dennis Del Valle tied for match-high honors with 14 digs, while Edgardo Goas guided the Nittany Lions to a .314 (60-22-121) attack percentage, including a .556 (6-1-9) rate of success on his own.
In the opening set, the defending national champions rallied off the first four points and quickly climbed out to an 8-3 advantage. The Cardinals managed to draw within three points at the 12-9 mark, thanks to a block assist from Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) and Gasparovic, but would get no closer as PSU rattled off the next three points and went on to win the set 30-20.
Ball State recovered in the second game, opening with four of the first six points on its way to an 8-4 lead. Penn State responded with an 8-4 run of its own to tie the game at 12. BSU regained the momentum thanks in part to some strong serving from Gasparovic, who served four-straight points including a pair of aces to give BSU a 16-12 lead.
A kill and block assist from Nelson helped BSU extended its advantage to five points at the 18-13 mark, while a kill from Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/St. Mary's H.S.) and a PSU attack error pushed the lead to seven at 21-14. The Cardinals went on to win the frame 30-24 on another Imwalle marker.
Imwalle, who finished the match with five kills, led off the third game with another kill, only to see Penn State build its second 8-3 lead of the night. BSU would get no closer than four points the rest of the game, as the Nittany Lions went on to win the game 30-19.
Game four was a true slugfest, as the teams played to a 15-15 tie to open the set. After a BSU service gave the hosts a 16-15 advantage, Pheister collected the next three points, with a quick attack kill and back-to-back service aces to give the Cardinals an 18-16 lead.
After a Penn State time out, the hosts capitalized on a BSU service error and a Max Holt ace to tie the game at 18. The score remained tied at the 22-22 mark, before a pair of Ball State miscues gave the Nittany Lions a 24-22 edge. The Cardinals were able to cut the lead to one point on two occasions, but could not get any closer, dropping the game 30-26 and the match 3-1.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Saturday with a 7 p.m. match at St. Francis.
