Ball State University
7-2 (2-1MIVA)
IPFW
8-2 (3-0MIVA)
Men?s Volleyball Falls To IPFW In Five
February 06, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The No. 13 Ball State (7-2, 2-1 MIVA) men's volleyball team marked its second loss of the season Thursday night in a 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 11-15) heartbreaker to Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opponent IPFW (8-2, 3-0 MIVA). The Mastodons remain undefeated in the conference after the comeback of a two game deficit.
The Cardinals came out strong, winning the first two sets with attack percentages of .333 and .367, respectively, while the 'Dons marked .133 and .118, with 18 attacking errors. IPFW then turned it around to cinch the next three games with only a total of 12 attacking errors and posting a remarkable .611 attack percentage in the fifth set.
“I think some of the difference makers were when they put in number three Quinonas, and that really solidified their passing,” Ball State men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton said. “It really made it difficult for us to break down their serve receive, since it makes it extremely difficult for us to play defense against that.”
All games were back-and-forth, with 12 lead changes through the first four games, while the entire fifth set held IPFW in the lead consistently.
Defensively, senior libero David Ryan Vander Meer notched 14 digs and three assists, while freshman Matt Walsh tallied two solo blocks paired with 12 block assists. Walsh's 14 blocks tie the Ball State all-time rally-scoring record in a five set match.
The Cardinals dominated the match statistically, holding the advantage in attack percentage (.277 – .242), blocks (17.5-5.0) and attack errors (18-30), despite falling in kills (54-67), digs (47-51) and service aces (5-1) to the Mastodons. Ball State suffered from 15 service errors compared to IPFW's 15 service errors paired with 30 attack errors throughout the five-set match.
Senior Matt Sutherland received an error-free 20 shots, held nine digs, tallied nine error-free serves, and one block assist, all the while racking up five kills.
“I wish we could have kept that spark through the whole game, instead of just two sets,” Sutherland said. “We usually play well in the fifth game, so it was just really unusual, since it doesn't generally happen like that. IPFW played really well, and while they were flat the first two games, they came back really good from the third game on, where we just fell apart.”
Leading the Cardinal offense was junior Marcin Niemczewski with 18 kills on 33 attempts with eight digs, along with senior Shane Witmer who posted 12 kills and seven digs.
IPFW's Alex Harthaller racked up 26 kills with a .452 attack percentage, while Andrew Sellan posted three of the team's five aces on the night, paired with 15 kills.
“George Mason is a good team, so we need to take a look at that coming up,” Coach Walton said. “It's going to be another good test for our guys and it will be an opportunity for them to dig down deep and see what they've got inside of them. I know George Mason is going to come in looking for the opportunity to come after us and we've got to respond.”
The Ball State men's volleyball team will round out this week's play when they welcome George Mason in Worthen Arena Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
