Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
0-1
Stanford
1-0
Niemczewski?s 12 Kills Not Enough In MVB Loss To No. 13 Stanford
January 09, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Despite a team-high 12 kills from senior outside attacker Marcin Niemczewski, the Ball State offense struggled to find its rhythm, while the defense was continually pressured by the strong serving game of Stanford in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25- 18) loss Friday night in Worthen Arena.
“I am really disappointed with how we responded emotionally,” Ball State head coach Joel Walton said about Friday's loss. “Our attitude was back on our heels most of the night. Stanford serves the ball well, it's just disappointing we were not able to get any serving pressure on them tonight. I was disappointed with our team's overall cohesiveness and in general, their confidence on the court. We have to improve in those areas.”
The 14th-ranked Cardinals (0-1) did manage to out-block the 13th-ranked Cardinal (1-0) in the season-opener for both clubs, but despite the 6.0 to 5.0 edge in the category, the visitors from the MPSF were able to out-hit Ball State .465 (42-9-71) to .221 (32-15-77) on the night. Stanford also served up five aces, while the hosts tallied none.
“Offensively, we just have to get better,” Walton said. “Some of that is going to come with our ability to pass and get into system. We have to be a little bit better defensively as well. I was looking at one point and we were getting out-dug pretty significantly by Stanford. A lot of the game tonight was their ability to out-serve us, and our inability to pass and get into offense.”
In addition to his team-high 12 kills, Niemczewski finished the match with a .276 (12-4-29) attack percentage and a dig. Sophomore outside attacker Mitch Weiler led the Ball State offense with a .500 (6-1-10) attack percentage, while junior outside attacker Brendan Surane added nine kills and a .316 (9-3-19) rate of success.
Surane also tied freshman libero Adam Weiler for team-high honors with four digs.
Madison Hayden led the Stanford attack with 13 kills, while Gabriel Vega added 10. Cardinal libero Evan Enriques led all players with seven digs to help the guests out-dig Ball State 26 to 18.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will look to rebound tomorrow when it hosts first-year NCAA program Alderson Broaddus in another 7:30 p.m. first serve.
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