Ball State University
7-1 (2-0MIVA)
Lindenwood
2-3 (0-2MIVA)
Men?s Volleyball Narrowly Sweeps Lindenwood
February 01, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The No. 14 Ball State (7-1, 2-0 MIVA) men's volleyball team continued their opening weekend of Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action with a narrow 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-23) sweep of Lindenwood University (2-3, 0-2 MIVA) Saturday evening in Worthen Arena. The match marks the Cardinals third sweep in a row and fourth of the season.
Leading Ball State offensively was senior outside attacker Matt Sutherland with nine kills on 16 attempts, six digs and one solo block. He was paired at the top of the rankings with fellow senior outside attacker Shane Witmer, who posted eight kills, seven block assists and three digs, while sophomore Brendan Surane rounded out the Cardinal attack with his 14th ace of the season. Surane opened the match with a seven-point serving streak that put Ball State on an early 7-1 lead in the first set.
“I think our offense wasn't as strong tonight as it has been, and we didn't hit over .300 which is the benchmark we have been going for,” Ball State men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton said. “We picked up a few too many errors, so we've got to take a look at the video to see if it was set location or what Lindenwood was doing with their block, so we can try and solve what is going on with that inconsistency.”
Defensively, senior libero David Ryan Vander Meer notched seven digs, while freshman middle attack Matt Walsh racked up one solo block, seven block assists, and four digs, in addition to his six kills for 12.5 points. Walsh held two of just three Cardinal aces on the night, as well as the most points of the Ball State total of 46.5.
Ball State turned game three around to take the match when they were down 13-17 to Lindenwood and rebounded to win 25-23. It was one of just four lead changes on the night, and the lone one of the third set.
“We struggled in play with Lindenwood in the preseason, so we came in really focused and it showed today,” Sutherland said. “We've never started out as well as we have and we usually start out flat and improve from there, so it's nice to start out this strong.”
Ball State benefitted from 14 service errors committed by Lindenwood paired with 25 attack errors.
The Cardinals held the advantage in attack percentage (.241 – .146) and blocks (11.5-6.0), but dropped in digs (35-30) and kills (40-32) to the Lions.
“The conference opponents we're gearing up for keep getting tougher and tougher, but the good news is that we've been able to handle our first two conference matches this weekend,” Coach Walton said. “So we need to learn from that and keep working on things and get as polished as possible in the next two weeks.”
The Ball State men's volleyball team will continue home action Thursday, Feb. 5, when they host No. 10 IPFW at 7:30 p.m. in Worthen Arena.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
