Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
16-9
St. Francis
14-14
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Francis | 25 | 18 | 30 | 26 | 1 |
| Ball State | 30 | 30 | 23 | 30 | 3 |
Men?s Volleyball Ends Regular Season With Senior Day Win
April 19, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The No. 15 Ball State men's volleyball team celebrated senior day with a 3-1 (30-25, 30-18, 23-30, 30-26) victory over Saint Francis Saturday evening at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals end the regular season with a 16-9 record. The Red Flash record evens out at 14-14 with the loss.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will now turn its attention to the 2009 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament, as the No. 3-seeded Cardinals will host No. 6 seed Quincy in quarterfinal play Saturday, April 25 at Worthen Arena. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.
In tonight's senior day victory, BSU relied heavily on its four seniors. Todd Chamberlain (Louisville, Ky./Trinity H.S.) paces all attackers with 17 kills, while adding eight digs. Chamberlain, who smashed the match-winning kill, also added three service aces.
Mark Termion (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North H.S.) collected a career-high 11 digs as the team's libero, while Ben Irwin (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) added career highs of eight kills and a .700 (8-1-10) attack percentage.
Matt McCarthy (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.) rounded out the BSU senior group with a season-high seven total blocks (one solo, six assists), while smashing five kills and earning four digs.
For the night, the Ball State offense connected for a .308 (59-18-133) attack percentage, with Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) handing out 51 assists to go along with nine digs, seven blocks, two aces and a kill. Matt Sprague (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) also added double-figure kills for BSU, smashing 10 to go along with seven digs and three service aces.
Three players tallied double-digit kills for Saint Francis, with Jordan Varee pounding out a team-best 15 markers. Pete Freyer added 14 tally marks, while Nick Rivett collected 11. Markus Schulze picked up a match-best 13 digs for the Red Flash, while Shane Conley ran the offense at a .197 (56-28-142) clip.
In addition to out-hitting the SFU, Ball State held a 14.5 to 9.5 advantage in blocks, including five from sophomore transfer Andy Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) who played in just the final two games and also added seven kills.
The opening set was a true battle, with the teams trading punches and playing to a 22-22 deadlock. Ball State's McCarthy landed the first big blow with a kill that tied the game at 22 and three blocks (two assists and one solo) over the next four plays, as BSU rallied off five-straight points to pull ahead 26-22.
After the teams traded the next four points, a Chamberlain kill gave BSU set point at 29-24. After a service error, Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) provided the first-game knockout punch at 30-25.
The second frame saw the teams play to a 5-5 tie, before three straight blocks from Pheister and McCarthy turned the momentum over to the Cardinals. From there, the Cardinals went on to take a 10-point lead at 22-12 on a Sprague kill, before winning the game 30-18 on an Irwin throw down.
Ball State scored three of the first four points in the third game, only to see Saint Francis answer with a 7-0 run which including two kills from both Varee and Freyer, as well as a Conley marker. Chamberlain scored the next two points for the Cardinals on a kill and ace, but BSU never recovered, falling behind by 10 on an Alex Fortney ace at 17-7. The Red Flash went on to win the game 30-23 on a Varee marker.
With the teams playing to a 2-2 tie in the fourth game, a Freyer kill and back-to-back Varee service aces gave the guests from Loretto, Pa., a 5-2 advantage. The Cardinals quickly recovered, tying the set at 7-7 thanks in part to a pair of kills from Nelson. With Saint Francis holding a 9-8 edge, two kills from Chamberlain, surrounding a block assists from Pheister and Nelson and followed by a Sprague service ace, put the Cardinals ahead 12-9.
Ball State would not trail again, pulling ahead by as many as seven at 27-20, before winning the game 30-26. Nelson gave BSU set point at 29-25, while a Chamberlain kill wrapped up the game at 30-26 and the senior day victory at 3-1.
