Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
1-1
Carthage
1-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 22 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 3 |
| Carthage | 30 | 24 | 29 | 26 | 1 |
No. 13 Men's Volleyball Scores 3-1 Win At Carthage
January 17, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
KENOSHA, Wis. - - The 13th-ranked Ball State men's volleyball team picked up its first win of the 2010 season with a 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 31-29, 30-26) victory over Carthage Saturday night at Tarble Arena
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 1-1 (0-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) on its season-opening three match road trip. The Red Men fall to 1-2 while playing their third match in the past four days.
"Carthage started the match with a lot of passion, while we came out slow and sluggish," said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. "We did not start well tonight, and that is something we are going to have to correct as the season moves forward."
Ball State's explosive middle combination of juniors J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) and Anders Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) provided a bulk of the offense, scoring 16 and 13 kills, respectively. Gasparovic finished the match hitting .500 (16-4-24), while Nelson hit .550 (13-2-20) and added a match-best eight total blocks.
"Our middles saved us tonight," added Walton. "We leaned heavily on J.D. and Anders for our offense and they came through. Once our passing settled in later in the match we able to get more of our offense going. I thought Larry came off the bench and did some good things tonight, including scoring the match-winning kill."
Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) also posted double-digit kills for BSU, finishing the match with 10.
Tom O'Connell paced the Red Men attack with a match-high 20 kills, while Randy Hansen added 18.
In the backcourt, the Cardinals' Billy Ebel led all players with 15 digs, while Carthage's Mike Bynon collected a team-high 14 digs.
Overall, the Cardinals were able to out-hit the Red Men .187 (58-32-139) to .169 (57-33-142) in the victory, while holding a 47-to-44 advantage in digs. Ball State also held a 13.5-to-7 lead in total blocks.
Gasparovic opened the match with a kill for the Cardinals, only to see the Red Men capitalize on three BSU errors and a John Condon service ace to take a 4-1 lead. Moments later, the hosts would extend their advantage to five points, at 9-4, thanks to a block assists from Condon and Tim Walker.
A block from Gasparovic and Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) helped BSU battle within three, at 10-7. Unfortunately, Carthage scored eight of the next 11 points and never looked back, winning the set 30-22 on a Hansen kill.
A Spadavecchio kill and an Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) service ace got the Cardinals off to a hot start in the second game, as they played to a 6-1 advantage. Ball State's lead remained five at the 10-5 mark thanks to a Nelson kill, but three BSU errors and a kill from O'Connell helped Carthage rally within one at 10-9.
The Red Men eventually tied the set at 12, only to have a kill from Gasparovic, an attack error and another ace from Pheister push the score to 15-12. The Cardinals doubled their lead at the 23-17 mark after a service ace from Meyer, before winning the frame 30-24 on a Carthage attack error.
Ball State carried over the momentum into the third frame, posting the first three points thanks in part to a Spadavechio kill and a block assist from Gasparovic and Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.). A kill from Nelson extended the Cardinals' lead to four points at the 10-6 mark, only to see a kill from Hansen and an O'Connell and Matt Yanz block assist tie the frame at 11.
O'Connell followed with a kill, giving the hosts their first lead of the frame, at 12-11,and forcing a Ball State timeout. A service error tied the set after the minute rest, and from there, the teams battled to a 19-19 stalemate. A 6-2 run from Carthage broke the tie and moved the score to 25-21, only to see the Cardinals answer back with the next four points and tie the set at 25 on a Schulte service ace.
A kill from O'Connell gave the hosts a 26-25 edge, but an attack error, a Meyer ace and a BSU triple block reversed the momentum and gave the visitors from Muncie a 28-26 lead. A Walker kill and back-to-back markers from O'Connell gave Carthage the first set point, only to see a kill from Larry Wrather (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest H.S.) tie the frame at 29.
Following a Red Men attack error, which gave Ball State its first swing at the game, a Gasparovic kill ended the frame at 31-29 in favor of the Cardinals.
A pair of kills from both Gasparovic and Meyer helped the Cardinals pull out to a 4-1 lead early in the fourth game. While two quick kills from Carthage cut the gap to one, at 4-3, the Cardinals responded with an 8-3 run to pull ahead by six at 12-6.
The Red Men battled back within two points at 15-13, only to see kills from Meyer and Nelson extend the Ball State lead back to four at 17-13. The Cardinals maintained the four-point lead at 25-21 after another Nelson marker, only to have three errors help Carthage rally within one at 25-24.
After a timeout, kills from Schulte and Wrather helped BSU push the score to 27-24. Four rallies later, a Gasparovic kill gave the Cardinals match point at 29-26. Wrather followed with a match-winning kill for Ball State at 30-26.
The Ball State men's volleyball team concludes its season-opening three match road swing Sunday afternoon with a 3 p.m. (CT) first service at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
