Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
10-5, 4-1
Ohio State
8-8, 5-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 25 | 30 | 21 | 30 | 12 | 2 |
| Ohio State | 30 | 20 | 30 | 26 | 15 | 3 |
Ohio State Snaps No. 14 MVB's Winning Streak
March 12, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - Despite a career-high 22 kills from Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.), the No. 14 Ball State men's volleyball team suffered a 3-2 (30-25, 20-30, 30-21, 26-30, 15-12) setback to No. 15 Ohio State Wednesday evening at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
The loss snapped BSU's nine-match winning streak and moved the Cardinals to 10-5 (4-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) on the year. The Buckeyes take over first place in the MIVA by half a game over the Cardinals with a 5-1 league record and improve to 8-8 overall on the season.
In addition to Chamberlain, Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) added 14 kills in the contest, while Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) tallied 12.
Ball State's J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) was the top blocker in the match, collecting nine total blocks, while posting six kills and a .545 (6-0-11) attack percentage.
Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) set the Ball State offense to a .306 (68-27-134) hitting mark in the contest, while tying a career-high with five service aces.
John Albertson paced four Buckeyes with double-figure kills, collecting 16 in the match. John Klanac added 15 kills, while Ted Schoenfeldt posted 12 and Ben Spurlock collected 11. Overall, the Buckeyes finished the match with a .268 (65-27-142) attacking mark.
Chamberlain, Pheister and Sprague tied for match-high honors with nine digs each, while Schoenfeldt led Ohio State with seven.
Overall, the Cardinals out-blocked Ohio State 16.0 to 13.0 and grabbed 40 digs to the Buckeyes 29.
Despite a pair of early kills from Chamberlain, part of his six in the frame, the Cardinals quickly found themselves trailing 7-2 in the opening set. BSU managed to cut the Ohio State lead to one point at 12-11 on a block from Gasparovic and Pheister, and after falling behind 14-11, again drew within one at 14-13 on another block, this time from Gasparovic and Chamberlain.
The Ohio State lead remained one at the 16-15 mark, before a BSU service error and block from Steven Kehoe and Kevin Heine pushed the score to 18-15. Ball State would get no closer than two points the rest of the game, falling behind by five at the 22-17 mark and losing the game 30-25 on a block assist from Heine and John Albertson.
Ball State took its first lead of the match to open the second game, after an OSU service error and a Pheister service ace. With the score tied at 3-3, it was time for BSU's Imwalle and Andy Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) to get in the match, as Imwalle smashed back-to-back kills, while Nelson added a marker of his own before the pair combined for a block assists to move the score to 7-3 and force a Buckeyes' timeout.
The Cardinals also scored the next two points out of the break on an OSU attack error and a Gasparovic service ace, making the score 9-3. A kill from Pheister gave BSU a seven-point edge at 14-7, while the team pushed its advantage to eight points at 17-9 on a Chamberlain kill.
Ohio State would cut the BSU advantage to four at the 20-16 mark, but the Cardinals charged back as three late kills from Chamberlain helped BSU win the game 30-20. The game-winning point was a service ace from Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.), giving BSU its largest lead of the game. As a team, the Cardinals hit .577 (18-3-26) in the second game, with Chamberlain adding six more kills in the set.
The third game saw Ohio State pull out to a 14-8 lead, before the Cardinals answered with the next four points, including kills from Gasparovic and Nelson, to draw within two at 14-12. With the hosts clinging to an 18-14 advantage, Klanac ripped back-to-back serves off the net tape for aces to push the OSU advantage back to six at 20-14.
The Cardinals posted the next two points on a Nelson kill and an attack error, but this time it was Ohio State's turn to pull away, as they went on to win the game 30-21.
Pheister opened the game four with a mission, helping BSU force the Buckeyes to call timeout at 5-1 with three-straight service aces. The lead was short-lived, however, as an 8-3 run gave OSU a 9-8 edge. Ball State tied the score back at 12-12, and from there, the teams battled to a 17-17 deadlock.
Kills from Sprague and Chamberlain followed, as BSU scored six of the next eight points to pull ahead 23-19. The run also including a kill from senior Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.), who has missed much of the season due to injury. With the Cardinals holding a 26-23 advantage after a Sprague kill, Ohio State's Albertson scored a kill and block assists on the next two plays to cut the lead to one and force BSU to use its final break of the game.
Back-to-back blocks, both including McCarthy, stopped the Ohio State momentum and gave BSU a 28-25 lead. An Ohio State ball handling error gave the Cardinals set point on the next play, while two-plays later, an Imwalle kill gave BSU the set at 30-26 and forced a fifth game.
Ball State scored the first two points of the fifth game, on a Chamberlain kill and a block assists from Imwalle and Gasprovic, before Ohio State posted six of the next eight points to reach its own two-point lead at 6-4. The Buckeyes took an 8-6 advantage into the court switch after a kill from Schoenfeldt.
The Cardinals found themselves down by four points at the 12-8 mark after a Klein kill. An Imwalle kill off the Ohio State block on the next play cut the lead to three, but the Buckeyes answered with two of the next three points to reach match-point at 14-10.
Chamberlain's career-high 22nd kill of the match and an OSU attack error moved the score to 14-12 and led to a Buckeye timeout. Unfortunately, a Klanac kill after the break ended the set at 15-12 and gave Ohio State the match at 3-2.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Friday, with it travels to Lewis for a 7 p.m. (CT) showdown with the 10th-ranked Flyers.
