Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
1-0
Mount Olive
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 25 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 3 |
| Mount Olive | 21 | 16 | 25 | 17 | 1 |
Men?s Volleyball Opens With 3-1 Win Over Mount Olive
January 10, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. - - The No. 16 Ball State (1-0) men's volleyball team opened the 2015 season with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17) win over Mount Olive.
Leading the Cardinals was junior outside attack Marcin Niemczewski with 13 kills, three digs, one assist and one block assist. Niemczewski was named to the Outside Attacker of the Year watch list in preseason polls by Off The Block college men's volleyball blog.
“It's always good to get a road win,” Ball State men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton said. “Overall, I think we ran good offense at times, as .424 is a good percentage. I'd like to see us do better with our serving game, since we had a few too many errors there.”
Offensively, both freshman middle attack Matt Walsh and senior outside attack Shane Witmer recorded eight kills. Walsh also served up three aces, one solo block, and one block assist while Witmer notched eight digs. To help them out, junior setter Hiago Garchet lined them up with 38 assists for a 9.5 assists per game average, along with three block assists.
Defensively, senior libero David Ryan Vander Meer notched 14 digs, averaging 3.5 per set, while sophomore Brendan Surane marked four block assists.
“In the one game we lost, our passing broke,” Coach Walton said. “Mount Olive did well with their serves, and they were tough for us.”
Ball State benefitted from 19 service errors committed by Mount Olive paired with 25 attack errors.
The Cardinals held the advantage in kills (45-41), attack percentage (.424 – .147), digs (37-29) and blocks (8 – 6), but dropped in aces to the Trojans (7-11).
“Overall, it was good to start to the 2015 season. These players are working really hard on the court and they are improving every day and it's nice to see,” Coach Walton said.
The Ball State men's volleyball team continues action Saturday, Jan. 10, when they take on Barton College at 2 p.m. in Wilson, N.C.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
