Saturday, February 27
Muncie, Ind.
7 p.m.
Ball State University
7-2,4-1MIVA
2
vs
3
Ohio State University
5-6,4-3MIVA
1
2
3
4
5
F
Ohio St.
25
23
25
19
15
3
Ball St.
22
25
20
25
13
2
Photo by: Maeve Bradfield/Ball State Athletics
Men's Volleyball Suffer Heartbreaking Five Set Loss To Rival Ohio State
February 27, 2021 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Cardinals knew tonight's contest wasn't going to be an easy one over their longest rival Ohio State. So, it comes to no surprise that these two rivals would take the match to a fifth set after eight lead changes and 27 ties.
Although the win column could have went either way, unfortunately for the Cardinals (7-2, 4-1 MIVA) it was the Buckeyes (5-6, 4-3 MIVA) that would come out on top in the extra period winning the fifth set 15-13 and then taking the match 3-2.
After the match, head coach Joel Walton said that he thought what factored in the most to the Cardinals' loss today was that his team struggled on offense all night long and Ohio State was just much more consistent in that category.
The Buckeyes did indeed hit better than the Cardinals tonight, totaling 66 kills off of 132 swings for a .341 hitting percentage while the Cardinals registered only 49 kills off of 130 attempts for a .208 hitting percentage.
Walton also commented on how Ohio State's Martin Lallemand and Sotiris Siapanis kept giving BSU fits all night and it was hard for the Cardinals to defend them. That was problematic for BSU all night and the Cardinals just couldn't generate much offense.
Walton said that those two factors together end up being a deadly combination to put yourself in position to win the match.
But the Cardinals still kept up the pace when they needed to and that was apparent when BSU took sets two (25-23) and four (25-19) from Ohio State.
Ball State's offense was led again by Kaleb Jenness who had 16 kills on the night while his teammates Bryce Behrendt and Felix Egharevba also reached double figures in that statistic with 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will be back in action on Friday, March 5 when it travels to Lewis University for an 8 p.m. ET first serve in Romeoville, Ill.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's volleyball team please follow, @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Instagram and Twitter.
Although the win column could have went either way, unfortunately for the Cardinals (7-2, 4-1 MIVA) it was the Buckeyes (5-6, 4-3 MIVA) that would come out on top in the extra period winning the fifth set 15-13 and then taking the match 3-2.
After the match, head coach Joel Walton said that he thought what factored in the most to the Cardinals' loss today was that his team struggled on offense all night long and Ohio State was just much more consistent in that category.
The Buckeyes did indeed hit better than the Cardinals tonight, totaling 66 kills off of 132 swings for a .341 hitting percentage while the Cardinals registered only 49 kills off of 130 attempts for a .208 hitting percentage.
Walton also commented on how Ohio State's Martin Lallemand and Sotiris Siapanis kept giving BSU fits all night and it was hard for the Cardinals to defend them. That was problematic for BSU all night and the Cardinals just couldn't generate much offense.
Walton said that those two factors together end up being a deadly combination to put yourself in position to win the match.
But the Cardinals still kept up the pace when they needed to and that was apparent when BSU took sets two (25-23) and four (25-19) from Ohio State.
Ball State's offense was led again by Kaleb Jenness who had 16 kills on the night while his teammates Bryce Behrendt and Felix Egharevba also reached double figures in that statistic with 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will be back in action on Friday, March 5 when it travels to Lewis University for an 8 p.m. ET first serve in Romeoville, Ill.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's volleyball team please follow, @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB on Instagram and Twitter.
Team Stats
OSU
BSU
Kills
66
49
Errors
21
22
Attempts
132
130
Hitting %
.341
.208
Points
83
64
Assists
63
42
Aces
4
6
Blocks
13
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
2
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
OA
/ Men's Volleyball
MA
/ Men's Volleyball
OA
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