Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Sets Up For Six-Match Home Stand
February 09, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 11 - Ball State vs. IPFW: Live Stats | ESPN3 Live Video
Feb. 12 - Ball State vs. Barton: Live Stats | BallStateSports.com Live Video
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The No. 13 Ball State (7-3, 2-0 MIVA) men's volleyball team will begin action in a six-match home stand in Worthen Arena as it welcomes Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foe IPFW (4-6, 0-2 MIVA) on Feb. 11, followed by non-conference opponent Barton College (5-2, 3-2 CC) Feb. 12.
Last weekend, the Cardinals continued to roll on its hot streak by making significant 3-2 comebacks against both McKendree and then-No. 7 Ohio State.
Ball State first opened MIVA play by coming back in a narrow 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 33-31, 15-7) victory over McKendree on Thursday evening. Four different Cardinals posted 10 kills or more to help lift Ball State over the Bearcats with three consecutive set wins after dropping the two opening sets.
Topping the offensive lines was junior Brendan Surane who tallied 15 kills, one ace and two block assists. Surane also extended the fourth set by pushing it to extra points with earning six kills to force a fifth, leading to the Cardinals victory. Other offensive standouts included sophomore Mitch Weiler who marked 12 kills, followed by junior Alex Pia and sophomore Matt Walsh who each earned 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman Parker Swartz topped off the offensive attack at a significant time for the Cardinals by downing two of Ball State's four service aces, both in the fifth set.
The Cardinals then downed No. 7 Ohio State in a dramatic 3-2 (14-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-11, 18-16) upset on the road Saturday night. In the conference action, junior Mike Scannell tallied seven total blocks as well as 13 kills in the five-setter.
The fifth set is where Scannell tallied five of his 13 kills of the night, including the match winner, while senior Marcin Niemczewski marked a third of his team-high of 15 kills as well. Weiler earned 12 kills on the night as well as one of the Cardinals two aces.
At the net, Scannell teamed up with sophomore Anthony Lebryk, who marked an astounding eight block assists paired with one solo block. In addition to marking the second Ball State ace at the back line, Walsh stopped a total of four oncoming Buckeye attacks. Ultimately, nine different Cardinals combined for a total of six solo blocks and 30 block assists, making the 21.0 total team blocks a new season high for Ball State.
Nationally, Ball State improved this week from a 14th-ranking to No. 13, the highest of the season thus far, and is also ranked seventh overall in blocks per set with 2.58. In conference action, Ball State is tied with Loyola in the standings for first, as both teams are currently 2-0 in MIVA play. Individually, Surane is fourth in the conference in total kills with 100, while Weiler is fifth in total digs with 64.
SCOUTING IPFW: The Mastodons are currently 4-6 on the season, as well as 0-2 in MIVA action, with its two losses coming from Ohio State 3-1, and McKendree 3-2. Standouts include Andrew Sellan, who leads the conference in kills (161) and kills per set (4.60), as well as Luis Bertran who tops the conference in digs (101). Ball State holds the all-time advantage over IPFW 66-29, including a 29-13 record at home, although most recently, IPFW was able to edge the Cardinals in Fort Wayne 3-0 April 4, 2015. 12 year assistant coach Ryan Perrotte has begun his first year at the helm of the program, in lieu of long time IPFW head coach and Ball State alumni Arnie Ball's retirement at the end of the 2015 season.
SCOUTING BARTON: Similar to the Cardinals, the Bulldogs are currently on a four match win streak in the 2016 season. Currently 5-2 overall and 3-2 in Conference Carolinas play, Barton standouts include Vasilis Mandilaris with 96 kills and Pierre Tang-Taye with 90 kills. Charles Hyde leads the team with 20 total blocks, while Kekaulike Alameda currently tallies 84 digs. Seven different foreign countries are represented by the 14 players on the Barton roster, leaving just five who are natives of the United States mainland. Ball State has swept Barton the last three seasons, including the most recent 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-20) decision on the road Jan. 10, 2015.
Live stats and broadcast will be available for fans unable to attend the matchups at:
Live Stats: http://www.ballstatesports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14200&LIST_SPORT__VOLLEYBALL
Live Broadcast:
Thursday vs. IPFW: (ESPN3): http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/search/Ball%20State/type/upcoming/sport/volleyball/
Friday vs. Barton: http://www.ballstatesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=7635&DB_OEM_ID=14200&db_oem_id=14200
Looking ahead, the Ball State men's volleyball team will continue action at home in Worthen Arena, first welcoming in MIVA rival Loyola on Feb. 17, followed by Lewis on Feb. 18.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's volleyball action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Twitter and Instagram.
