Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
8-6 (3-3MIVA)
Qunicy
8-8 (0-5MIVA)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quincy | 25 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 1 |
| Ball State | 18 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Men's Volleyball Claims 3-1 Win Over Quincy
February 27, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team completed a weekend sweep of Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association rival Quincy Saturday evening with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20) victory at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 8-6 (3-3 MIVA), while the Hawks fall to 8-8 (0-5 MIVA) after the loss.
"Quincy played with a lot more intensity on defense tonight and they forced us to play better volleyball," said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. "This weekend's matches were both critical and I am glad to see our team was able to put two in the win column."
In Saturday's contest, Ball State was able to spread out its offense with five different players recording at least seven kills. Senior middle attacker Anders Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) and sophomore right side attacker Greg Herceg (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Ignatius H.S.) tied for team-high honors with nine kills apiece.
Nelson would add a match-best seven blocks (two solo and five assists) to his stat line, while finishing the contest with a .400 (9-3-15) hitting mark. He also collected three digs. Herceg finished the night with three blocks, two digs and an ace.
J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) scored eight kills and a match-best .636 (8-1-11) hitting percentage, while adding four blocks (one solo and three assists) and a dig.
Sophomore outside attacker Larry Wrather (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forrest H.S.) and senior outside attacker Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) each tallied seven kills, with Wrather also earning a team-best seven digs.
Joseph Sokol led the Quincy attack with 16 kills, while Ryan Lehmann and Joseph Ascher added 12 apiece. Tanner Wright added a match-best eight digs for the Hawks.
As a team, the Cardinals held a .243 (44-19-103) to .182 (53-31-121) hitting advantage, while out-blocking the Hawks 12.5 to 7.5. Quincy held a slim 35 to 30 edge in digs and a three to two lead in aces.
The Cardinals scored four of the first six points in the opening frame, but a kill from Sokol and three straight BSU attack errors helped Quincy gain the momentum and a 6-4 edge. A Herceg kill gave Ball State the next point, only to have a 7-1 run give the Hawks control of the game. Sokol eventually provided the set-winning kill at 25-18.
The teams battled to a 21-21 stalemate in the second game before a block from Gasparovic and Herceg gave Ball State a 22-21 edge. After a Quincy attack error and timeout, Meyer and Nelson blasted back-to-back kills to end the game at 25-21.
Ball State scored four of the first five points in the third game, before a 3-1 Hawks run cut the gap to one at 5-4. Quincy remained within one at the 9-8 mark and kept the BSU lead to two at 15-13. From there, a 5-1 run gave Ball State a 20-14 edge in the momentum in the game. The Cardinals eventually won the frame 25-20 on a Wrather kill.
The Cardinals scored the first five points of the fourth game on three Quincy attack errors and solo blocks from Gasparovic and Wrather. BSU went on to take an eight-point advantage at 18-10, before a four-point run from the Hawks cut the lead in half. Quincy would get no closer, however, as a Gasparovic blast ended the game at 25-20 and the match at 3-0.
The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action next Saturday, when it hosts George Mason in a 7:30 p.m. first serve at Worthen Arena.
