Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
13-15, 6-10MIVA
McKendree
11-17, 1-13MIVA
Men's Volleyball Rounds Out Regular Season With Win
April 12, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
LEBANON, Ill. - - The Ball State Men's Volleyball team (13-15, 6-10 MIVA) served up a 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-18) final over Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opponent McKendree (11-17, 1-13 MIVA) on Saturday evening to break a six match losing streak. The win closed out regular season action for the Cardinals, who posted a final regular season record of 13-15, including a 6-10 record in the MIVA, heading into the conference tournament.
Senior Matt Sutherland topped the Cardinal offense with a recorded 12 kills on a .429 attack percentage while racking up four digs throughout the match. He was joined in the ranks by junior Marcin Niemczewski who tallied 11 kills for a .455 attack percentage while he also posted two of the three Cardinals aces on the night. The final ace came from sophomore Brendan Surane, while he also tallied 11 kills with a .316 percentage and four total blocks.
At the net, Surane was joined by Shane Witmer, Hiago Garchet, and Matt Walsh, who all managed to stop four attacks each in the process of Ball State earning a team total of 10.5 blocks to McKendree's 5.5. Witmer also marked an error-free 17 receptions, while senior libero David Ryan Vander Meer took on 24 shots with a .960 percentage in addition to 13 digs. Junior setter Garchet lined up the Cardinals offense with a .535 setting percentage, earning a total of 46 assists.
Ball State dominated McKendree in the stat books following the first set, with each team posting an overall .355 and .182 final attack percentage, respectively. Comparatively, McKendree led with a .464 attack percentage to the Cards .367 in the first set, despite the teams facing four tie scores and three lead changes in that set alone.
Overall, Ball State held the advantage in kills (55-47), blocks (10.5-5.5), and attack percentage (.355-.182), despite falling in digs (30-26), aces (4-3), and total attacks (110-107) to the Bearcats. The Cardinals balanced between 13 lead changes and 24 tie scores through the course of the night and kept a clean attack with 17 errors to McKendree's 27.
The win improves Ball State's all-time series record with McKendree to 3-0, with tonight's match victory being the first on the road.
Looking ahead, the Ball State men's volleyball team will compete in the MIVA conference tournament from April 24 to May 1. Details will be announced as soon as they become available.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
