Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
1-3 (1-0MIVA)
Lewis
3-2 (0-1MIVA)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis | 26 | 30 | 32 | 0 |
| Ball State | 30 | 32 | 34 | 3 |
Men?s Volleyball Sweeps MIVA Favorite No. 11 Lewis
January 31, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Sophomore J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) smashed a career-high 15 kills, while junior Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) posted his first career double-double to lead the Ball State men's volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-26, 32-30, 34-32) victory over Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association preseason favorite No. 11 Lewis Friday night at Worthen Arena.
“Tonight's match was interesting from the standpoint that we had so many guys contribute in so many different ways,” said BSU head coach Joel Walton. “J.D. turned in one of his best efforts to date. He is already one of the top blockers in the league, and now his is starting to find his offensive rhythm which will help us as we progress throughout the season.”
In addition to his match-high 15 kills, Gasparovic paced all players with eight total blocks (one solo and seven assists) while hitting a team-best .591 (15-2-22). As a team, BSU (1-3/1-0 MIVA)finished the contest with 15 total blocks, while Lewis netted five.
Schulte was BSU's top weapon in the final set, where he racked up seven of his 12 kills, including the two markers that set up the Cardinals' match-winning block.
“While Eric struggled at times, I thought he played a nice match overall,” added Walton. “He finished the night with 12 kills and 12 digs and made some big momentum plays when we needed them.”
With senior Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) back in the lineup for the first time this season, the Cardinals combined to hit a season-best .311 (53-16-119), while limiting the Flyers (3-2/0-1 MIVA) to a season-low .188 (47-23-128) rate of success.
“Tonight our guys showed they can play with the best in the conference, ” added Walton. “But don't discount Lewis, there is definitely a disadvantage to playing on the road. To win our conference, someone will have to go and win on the road. There are a lot of good teams and it's going to be about who is consistent and comes to play every night.”
McCarthy finished the night with seven kills, while freshman Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) and senior Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) each tallied nine markers.
Defensively, junior libero Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Kan./Bishop Miege H.S.) tied Schulte for match-high honors with 12 digs, while junior setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) fell one dig shy of double-figures with nine. Pheister also handed out a match-high 44 assists in guiding BSU to its season-best hitting effort.
Reigning MIVA Player of the Week Nathan Klaas paced the Lewis offense with 14 kills, while Billy Sahagian and Drew Pickering each collected nine. Flyers' libero Nick Perakes also tied Schulte and Ebel for match-high honors with 12 digs.
In the opening set, the teams battled to a 20-20 deadlock before a Spadavecchio kill and a LU attack error gave the hosts a two-point lead at 22-20. BSU extended its advantage to four points at 28-24 thanks in part to a solo block from Gasparovic and a triple block from Chamberlain, Gasparovic and Pheister.
A Schulte kill gave BSU its first chance at set point at the 29-25 mark, but one of 20 BSU service errors on the night gave the guests a brief moment of life. However, Lewis followed with a service error of their own (one of 15) to end the game at 30-26 in favor of the Cardinals.
“The one thing we really need to work on is serving,” added Walton. “Our goal as a team is to get at least 88% of our serves in play. We gave too many opportunities to Lewis when we could have opened up larger leads. Serving is really an area we need to work on.”
The second set saw the teams play to a 21-21 tie before a 5-2 run had the Flyers poised to even the match a one game apiece. Mike Iandolo even gave Lewis the first of three possible set points with a kill that pushed the Flyers a 29-26 lead.
However, a kill and a block assists from Gasparovic, who was aided by Chamberlain on the block, helped the Cardinals rally off the next two points and force a Lewis timeout. After the break, an attack error and another block assists, this time from Gasparovic and Schulte, gave BSU its first game point at 30-29.
Sahagian knotted the score at 30 with a kill for the Flyers, but it was not enough to stop the BSU momentum, as back-to-back Lewis miscues gave Ball State a 32-30 second game victory.
In the third frame, the Cardinals jumped out to a 25-20 lead before five straight Lewis points evened the set at 25. From there, the teams battled to a 28-28 tie before a Flyer service error gave BSU its first match point at 29-28.
After a kill from Klaas evened the score at 29, the Flyers reached set point on a block from David Kelnhofer and Craig Boller. Chamberlain and Gasparovic responded with a block of their own to tie the score at 30. However a service error set up the Flyers with their second-straight game point.
The BSU block responded once again, as Gasparovic, Schulte and Spadavecchio rejected a Kelnhofer attack to push the score to 31-31. After a kill from Lewis' Pickering gave the guests their third attempt to win the game, Schulte pounded back-to-back kills to give the Cardinals match point once again at 33-32.
The Ball State block ended the match on the next play, as McCarthy and Pheister combined to reject another Pickering offering, giving the hosts a hard-fought 34-32 third game victory.
The Ball State men's volleyball team has the rest of the weekend off, as they await a rare Thursday showdown with George Mason, who visits Worthen Arena Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
