Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
4-4 (1-0)MIVA
Milwaukee School of Engineering
2-8 (1-1)MW3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 30 | 30 | 30 | 3 |
| MSOE | 19 | 26 | 27 | 0 |
Men's Volleyball Posts Sweep At MSOE
February 21, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team posted a 3-0 (30-19, 30-26, 30-27) sweep of the Milwaukee School of Engineering Friday evening in it's first-ever trip to the Raiders' Kern Center.
The victory is the Cardinals' second straight over MSOE and moves BSU to 4-4 overall this season. MSOE drops to 2-10 with the loss.
Once again, Ball State was able to utilize most of its bench, as 13 different players saw action in the contest with nine smashing at least one kill.
After J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis., Mo./Oakville H.S.) smashed the match's first kill, two straight MSOE points gave the hosts their only lead of the opening set at 2-1. The Cardinals responded with the next four points and pulled ahead by seven at the 14-7 mark on a kill from Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.).
MSOE's Max Martin tried to rally the Raiders with three kills in a 6-0 run, bringing the score to 14-13. However, Chamberlain and Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) tallied back-to-back markers to give BSU the momentum back. From there, BSU pulled ahead by 10 points at 25-15 before winning the set 30-19 on a solo block from Gasparovic.
The Raiders capitalized on a fresh Ball State lineup to open the second game, as they built a four-point lead at the 13-9 mark. This time a Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) kill followed by a block assists and kill from Andy Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) helped spark the Cardinals, as the battled back to take a 15-14 advantage.
MSOE managed to regain the lead on three more occasions, including the 22-21 mark, only to see Ball State post the next five points, thanks in part to a Nelson solo block and an Irwin ace, and pull ahead 26-22. Ball State went on to win the set 30-26 on an Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) blast to the hardwood floor.
The hosts surged out to an 8-4 advantage in the third game, with Martin providing a kill and a service ace, while Dan Goray added a pair of markers. The lead was short-lived, however, as Ball State answered with six of the next seven points to take a 10-9 lead. From there, the teams battled to a 16-16 deadlock before a pair of BSU miscues surrounding a Martin kill led to a 19-16 Raiders lead and forced a Ball State timeout.
Ball State came out of the brake on fire, as Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.), Nelson and Chamberlain smashed three-straight kills to force an MSOE timeout. The hosts held the lead one more time thanks to a Glenn Frazee kill out of the timeout, but BSU tallied seven of the next eight points to pull ahead 26-21.
The Milwaukee School of Engineering would not go down without a fight, however, closing within one at 28-27, before a Nelson kill and a block assists from Nelson and Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) ended the set at 30-27.
Chamberlain was Ball State's top attacker and digger in the contest, racking up 10 kills and eight digs, respectively, while Nelson added eight kills and Sprague posted six.
Nelson also tallied a match-best seven total blocks, while Pheister added five in addition to dishing out a match-best 34 assists. One of two Shorewood, Wis., natives (which is less than five miles from MSOE) Pheister helped guide BSU to a .226 (39-18-93) attack percentage in the match.
Schulte, BSU's other Shorewood native, finished the contest with three kills, three blocks and two digs.
A pair of Raiders finished the match with double-figure digs, including a match-best 15 from Martin and 12 from Goray. Chris Brandt and Jon Holzbauer tied Chamberlain for match-high honors with eight digs.
MSOE finished the contest with a .120 (42-28-117) attack percentage, while adding 32 digs and 7.5 team blocks. BSU tallied 37 digs and 12 team blocks in the victory.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Saturday with a 7 p.m. (CT) first serve at Carthage.
