No. 14 Men?s Volleyball Soars Past Quincy

Saturday, March 28

Muncie, Ind.

7:30 p.m.

Ball State University

14-8 (5-4MIVA)

Quincy

17-26 (0-5MIVA)

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Quincy	19	17	27	0
Ball State	30	30	30	3

Men?s Volleyball Wins Thriller Over Rutgers-Newark

March 29, 2009 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ball State Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. - - Ball State men's volleyball redshirt freshman Dominic Spadavecchio ( Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) set the tone early, as he racked up a BSU single-game record eight aces in the opening set, to help guide the Cardinals to a 3-0 (30-19, 30-17, 30-27) victory over Quincy Saturday evening at Worthen Arena.

With the win, Ball State improves to 14-8 (5-4 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), while Quincy drops to 17-26 (0-5 MIVA).

Spadavecchio, who saw limited action after the opening frame, is the first BSU player to score eight aces in a match since 2006, when current BSU seniors Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.) and Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) posted a school-record 11 aces, with each scoring six in the opening game, versus Central State (Feb. 7, 2006). Current BSU volunteer assistant coach Mark Rumschik also tallied eight aces in the Central State match.

Overall, 14 different Cardinals saw action in Saturday's victory over Quincy, with J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) pacing all player with 10 kills, while posting a match-best five total blocks (one solo, four assists). Gasparovic also hit .529 (10-1-17) on the night.

Andy Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.), Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) and Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) each tallied five kills for BSU, while nine Cardinals tallied at least two kills, and 12 BSU players added at least one digs.

Ball State finished the match with a .286 (39-13-91) attack percentage, with Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) handing out 26 assists and Daniel Penrod (Selma, Ind./Wapahani H.S.) dishing out six to go along with a team-best five digs. The Cardinals also held a 8.5 to 3.5 advantage in team blocks.

Quincy finished the match with a .074 (30-23-95) attacking mark, with Edward Ricker tallying a team-best nine kills. Ivan Shirokov dished out 24 assists, while Collin Cooper collected a match-high eight digs.

Ball State came out of the gate strong versus the Hawks, as a Nelson overpass kill and service aces from Spadavecchio on three of the next four serves helped the Cardinals pull ahead 5-0. BSU extended its lead to six points at the 11-5 mark thanks to another Nelson kill, which forced Quincy to call its first timeout.

Quincy scored the first two points after the break, only to see a Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) and Nelson block, followed by Spadavecchio's fourth ace of the frame push the lead back to six at 13-7. BSU's lead remained five at the 16-11 mark, before kills from Quincy's Max Pompa and Joseph Sokol, surrounding a BSU attack error, cut the edge to two at 16-14.

The lead remained two at the 19-17 mark before a Nelson kill sent Spadavecchio to the service line again. Behind four more Spadavecchio aces, the Cardinals rallied off the next seven points and went on to win the game 30-19 on a Quincy attack error. Spadavecchio finished the opening frame with eight service aces, while adding two kills to account for 10 of BSU's 30 points.

Quincy played to a 2-1 lead early in the second game, before the Cardinals rallied off the next 10 points forcing the guests from Illinois to call timeout at 11-2. During the run, Gasparovic recorded four blocks (one solo and three assists) and added a kill.

Ball State claimed its first 10-point lead at the 13-3 mark, after a huge back row kill from Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) and a Quincy attack error. The Cardinals went on to win the game 30-17 on a James Emming (West Chester, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) kill.

A Meyer kill gave BSU the first point of the third game, while two kills and a block assist from Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) helped BSU pull out to a 5-1 advantage.

Quincy was able to battle back within one point at 11-10 and 12-11, only to see the Cardinals reclaim a four-point edge at the 27-23 mark. The Hawks followed with the next three points, forcing BSU to call its first timeout of the match.

After the break, Irwin connected for a momentum-killing kill, as the Cardinals scored three of the final four points to win the game 30-27 and the match 3-0.

The Ball State men's volleyball team will have two weeks to prepare for its next match, when it ends MIVA play with a 7 p.m. showdown at IPFW Saturday, April 11.