Ball State University
7-2 (2-2)
Quincy
2-5 (0-2)
Men?s Volleyball Survives Scare At Quincy
February 13, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Live Stats Link For Saturday's Match
QUINCY, Ill. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team fought off a furious Quincy attack to escape with a thrilling 3-2 (30-26, 30-21, 22-30, 22-30, 15-13) Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association win Friday night at the Hawks' Pepsi Arena.
The Cardinals, who improve to 7-2 (2-2 MIVA) with the win, have now won 21-straight matches over the Hawks. Quincy falls to 2-5 (0-2 MIVA) with the loss.
"We fell asleep in games three and four, while Quincy came out and played really well." said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. "Joseph Ascher and Joseph Sokol carried them down the stretch, and Peter Coley heated up in the final three games. We did not do a good job defensively at the end of the night, and our offense stopped working for two games. That equaled a really close match on the road."
While Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) finished the contest with a career-high and match-best 27 kills, it was redshirt freshman Jamion Hartley (North Chicago, Ill./North Chicago H.S.) who carried the Cardinals late in the fifth game, coming off the bench to score two kills and a pivotal solo block to help BSU rally back from down 12-9 to win the game 15-13. Hartley finished the match with three kills.
Meyer went on to add 11 digs to his stat line, to finish the match with his fourth double-double of the year. Meyer also posted a season-best .397 (27-4-58) attack percentage. Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) led the Ball State defense with 13 digs.
Junior Anders Nelson (St. Croix, Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.), who finished the match with 10 kills, added the final two markers of the match, while posting a match-high six total blocks.
While both teams finished the night with .240 attack percentages, Quincy held a 70-58 lead in total kills and a 63-54 edge in digs. Both teams also finished the night with 8.5 team blocks.
Sokol led four Quincy players in double figures with 18 kills, while Coley added 16, Ascher posted 14 and Ryan Lehmann tagged 10. Tanner Wright led all players with 16 digs.
After playing to a 4-4 tie, the Cardinals found themselves in a three-point hole as a Ascher kill, a Chris Zeidler ace and a Coley marker gave the hosts a 7-4 edge. Ball State slowly chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the set at 18. However, the hosts responded with five of the next six points to pull ahead 23-19.
Ball State answered with kills from Meyer and Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.), as well as a block assist from Pheister and Nelson to pull back within one at 23-22. Three rallies later, a Nelson overpass kill tied the set at 24.
The teams traded the next two points before a pair of Quincy miscues gave the Cardinals a 27-25 lead. Two more errors from the Hawks gave BSU game-point at 29-26, while a Meyer marker ended the frame at 30-26. Meyer was BSU's offensive hero in the set, scoring seven kills on 12 swings for a .583 attack percentage.
The second game saw the hosts post the first four points before kills from Spadavecchio and Meyer got the Cardinals rolling. Two more Meyer kills cut the gap to one at 5-4, while another pair of Meyer smashes tied the frame.
The teams played to a 10-10 deadlock before three straight BSU points gave the visitors from Muncie all the momentum. Ball State took an eight-point edge at 20-12 and went on to win the game 30-21 on a Nelson kill. Meyer provided the bulk of BSU's offense in the game, scoring nine of the Cardinals 17 kills in the stanza, while hitting for a .500 (9-1-16) rate of success.
Game three opened with the teams trading two-point runs, before two Ball State errors followed by a Lehmann ace and a block gave the hosts a 6-2 lead. The Cardinals followed with a 6-2 run of their own to tie the game at 8-8. During the run, Meyer added two of his eight kills in the game, while Nelson posted a solo block and freshman Matt Leske (Highwood, Ill./Highland Park H.S.) added an ace.
With the score tied at 10, the Hawks capitalized on two more BSU errors to swing the momentum to their side of the court, as they went on a 10-4 run to force a Ball State timeout at 20-14. Quincy added two more points after the break before a pair of Meyer kills ended the run. The Hawks would go on to win the game 30-22 on a Sokol kill.
A Coley kill and an Ascher ace helped Quincy pull out to an early 3-1 edge in the fourth game, while a block from Lehmann extended the lead to four at 9-5. A kill from J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) brought the Cardinals back within two at 10-8, while a pair of Quincy errors cut their lead to one at 12-11.
With the score at 14-13, a kill from Dan Dresen and a pair of BSU errors pushed the Quincy lead back to four at 17-13. The Cardinals would be forced to call their final timeout of the game several rallies later, as a Sokol kill extended the Hawks' lead to 23-18. Quincy would win game 30-22 on a Lehmann kill and force a deciding fifth frame.
Kills from Coley and Sokol helped the hosts pull out to another 3-1 lead, while kills from Gasparovic and Meyer, as well as a Nelson solo block, allowed BSU to tie the score at four. Ball State would take its first lead moments later, at 6-5, on a block from Nelson and freshman Larry Wrather (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forrest H.S.).
Unfortunately, a BSU error and back-to-back Coley kills gave the hosts an 8-6 advantage at the side switch and forced another Ball State timeout. Another Coley kill extended the lead to three at 11-8, while a BSU service error pushed the score to 12-9.
Hartley brought the Cardinals back to life, with a kill and a solo block on the next two plays to make the score 12-11. A Quincy attack error on the following play tied the set at 12.
A Sokol kill gave the hosts one more lead at 13-12, but another Hartley kill tied the set again at 13. With Quincy within two points of snapping its 20-match losing streak to the Cardinals, Nelson came through in the end for BSU, smashing back-to-back kills to end the game at 15-13 and help Ball State escape with a five-game victory.
Ball State and Quincy will hit the Pepsi Arena hardwood floor for the second straight night Saturday for a 7 p.m. (CT) rematch of tonight's five-game thriller.
