Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Takes on No. 10 IPFW & George Mason
February 04, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The No. 13 Ball State men's volleyball team (7-1, 2-0 MIVA) will continue action at Worthen Arena when it takes on Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opponent No. 10 IPFW (7-2, 2-0 MIVA) Thursday and non-conference George Mason (1-5) Saturday. Both matches are set for 7:30 p.m. and Thursday's lineup will hold a team poster signing session following the match.
Last weekend, Ball State opened MIVA play against Quincy with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-14) final over the Hawks to make it Ball State's second sweep in a row, third of the season.
Junior outside attacker Marcin Niemczewski topped the Cardinal offense with a recorded nine kills on 15 attempts while racking up six digs, three blocks, and one ace throughout the match. He was paired up with senior outside attacker Matt Sutherland who tallied seven kills, four digs, and received 18 error-free shots on the night. They were assisted by junior setter Hiago Garchet who recorded 28 assists on 61 attempts for a .459 set percentage.
Defensively, the Cardinals were led by senior outside attacker Shane Witmer who received 11 error-free shots, while he also served up one of eight Ball State service aces in the match, with sophomore outside attacker Brendan Surane marking four service aces for a season total of 13, top of the team. Surane also tallied four kills, two solo blocks, and three block assists at the net. Senior libero David Ryan Vander Meer posted seven digs to improve his season total to 61 in 24 sets.
Ball State benefitted from Quincy's -.011 attack percentage, while the Cardinals held a .382 throughout the three-set match. Ball State also held the advantage in kills (34-26), blocks (10.5-2.0), and digs (29-23). The Cardinals only forfeited three lead changes through the course of the night and kept a clean attack with only eight errors to Quincy's 27.
Saturday night, the Cardinals posted 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 Sutherland with nine kills on 16 attempts, six digs and one solo block. He was paired at the top of the rankings with Witmer, who posted eight kills, seven block assists and three digs, while 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.
Defensively, Vander Meer notched seven digs, while 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.
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.
SCOUTING No. 10 IPFW: The Hawks opened their MIVA play last weekend with sweeps over both Lindenwood and Quincy, and hold a 7-2 overall record, with a 2-0 MIVA conference record. Ball State holds the advantage over IPFW 66-27, including a 29-12 record at home. This year, top players for the Mastodons include Luis Bertran who holds 83 digs and was named MIVA Defensive Player of the Week this week, along with Andrew Sellan who has claimed 120 kills. Other standouts include Alex Harthaller who has earned 18 aces and Omar Rivera has posted 369 assists.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON: The Patriots hold a 1-5 record on the season, having yet to open conference play. Ball State holds the 34-27 advantage over George Mason, going 8-3 over the last seven seasons. Standouts for the Patriots include both Paco Velez and Jack Wilson, who both post 51 kills a piece, while Velez also holds a team-high of 9 aces. George Mason is coming off of their first win of the season in a 3-0 sweep of West Virginia. Seven of the first eight games on the Patriots schedule come against ranked opponents, before going into conference play next week.
Live Stats and Broadcast will be available for fans unable to attend this weekend's matchups at:
IPFW:
Live Broadcast: http://ballstatesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=7635&db_oem_id=14200
Live Stats: http://ballstatesports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPID=7635&DB_OEM_ID=14200&LIST_SPORT__VOLLEYBALL
GEORGE MASON:
Live Broadcast: http://ballstatesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=7635&db_oem_id=14200
Live Stats: http://ballstatesports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPID=7635&DB_OEM_ID=14200&LIST_SPORT__VOLLEYBALL
Looking ahead, the Ball State men's volleyball team will wrap up its five match home stretch at Worthen Arena on Thursday, Feb. 12 against Lewis at 7:30 p.m., followed by Loyola on Saturday, Feb. 14 in Chicago, Ill. at 7 p.m. central time.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
