Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
8-4, 4-0MIVA
Quincy
8-16, 0-3MIVA
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 30 | 30 | 35 | 30 | 3 |
| Quincy | 20 | 20 | 37 | 19 | 1 |
No. 10/15 MVB Tops Quincy 3-1
March 06, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
QUINCY, Ill. - - Behind four players with double-figure kills, the No. 10/15 Ball State men's volleyball team remained perfect in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play with a 3-1 (30-20, 30-20, 35-37, 30-19) victory over Quincy Thursday night at Pepsi Arena.
Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) paced all players with a career-high 17 kills in the victory, while Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S) added 15. Also posting double-figure markers for the Cardinals were Marcus Imwalle (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local H.S.) with 13 and J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) with 10.
Gasparovic finished the night hitting .833 (10-0-12), while tying Andy Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) for match-high honors with six total blocks.
Overall, BSU setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) guided the Ball State offense to a .415 (64-15-118) rate of success, while the team added 12 total blocks. Quincy finished the match hitting .207 (54-26-135) with nine total blocks.
Defensively, BSU's Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Kan./Bishop Miege H.S.) turned in a match-high nine digs, while Sprague finished the contest with eight.
Robbie Coughlin paced the Hawks' offense with 12 kills, while adding two of the team's four solo blocks. Ivan Shirokov and Collin Cooper tied for team-high honors with five digs, while Shirokov added a match-high five aces.
The match opened with the Cardinals jumping out to a quick 6-0 advantage in the opening set after a pair of Quincy miscues, two Chamberlain kills, a Pheister service ace and a third marker from Chamberlain. The Ball State lead remained six at the 17-11 mark before back-to-back block assists from Nelson, who was joined by Pheister and Sprague, respectively, pushed the score to 19-11.
The Cardinals claimed their first 10-point lead at the 26-16 mark on another Chamberlain kill, while his seventh kill of the frame gave BSU the set at 30-20.
After the teams traded the first two points of the second stanza, the Cardinals scored seven of the next nine points to build an 8-3 advantage. With BSU maintaining an 11-6 lead, the hosts managed to rally within two points at 12-10, before a service error followed by kills from Sprague and Gasparovic pushed the edge back to five at 15-10.
The hosts looked to keep the game close, playing to a score of 25-20, only to see four miscues and a block assist from Pheister and Nelson end the game at 30-20 in favor of Ball State.
The Hawks would not go down without a fight, however, as Shirokov opened the third game with four-straight service aces to help Quincy play to a 10-5 advantage. With the Cardinals trailing 17-12 in the set, a Sprague kill and service ace helped the guest draw within one point at 18-17.
Quincy answered the call and eventually built the lead back to five at 29-24, reaching set point off a Shirokov kill. However, with the sweep on the line, kills from Chamberlain and Pheister, as well as some strong serving from Nelson helped the Cardinals rally back and tie the set at 29.
From there, a slugfest ensued as kills on 10 of the next 12 plays pushed the score to 35-35, with BSU having one match point at 32-31. Unfortunately, after a Nelson kill tied the game at 35, a BSU service error and a solo block from Quincy's Greg Gant ended the game at 37-35 and forced a fourth game.
The fourth game saw the teams battle to a 5-5 tie before a kill and block assists from Gasparovic, aided by Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.), sparked a 7-0 run that put Ball State ahead for good in the game.
Quincy scored the next three points, to draw within four at 12-8, only to see another Gasparovic marker spark a 6-0 Cardinals' run that gave the guest their first 10-point lead of the set at 18-8. Ball State went on to win the game 30-19 on Sprague's career-best 17th kill of the contest.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Saturday, when it travels to Phoenix, Ariz., for the first of two matches versus first-year program Grand Canyon University. Match time for Saturday night is set for 7 p.m. (MST).
