Ball State University
1-0,0-0MIVA
Maryville University
0-2,0-0DI Independent
Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Maryville in the Cardinals’ 2022 Season Opener
January 13, 2022 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - First-year head men's volleyball coach Donan Cruz put on quite the show tonight in his debut at the helm of the Cardinals as Ball State earned a 3-0 sweep over Maryville Thursday night in Worthen Arena.
"We worked hard in the fall training to get ourselves prepared for today," said Cruz. "Really for us it was all about execution and I felt like we accomplished that. It was really nice to get the first W in front of a home crowd."
It was the Cardinals (1-0) and the Saints (0-2) first-ever meeting tonight. Ball State controlled the tempo most of the match, which allowed Cruz to play 13 different Cardinals against the Saints.
Ball State's offense was unmatched with a .506 hitting percentage that included 47 kills off 79 attacks. Junior outside attacker Bryce Behrendt led the Cardinals with a career-high 17 kills off 24 attacks. Junior setter David Flores dished out 24 assists.
Defensively, graduate student Colin Ensalaco along with Behrendt each added six digs.
The Cardinals were able to get 87 percent of their serves in play, including 10 service aces. Behrendt led the team with four aces.
Ball State set the tone early taking the first set from Maryville 25-13.
After that, Cruz pulled most off his starters allowing some of the Cardinals' bench to see some significant playing time in BSU's last two sets.
Although, the second and third frames were competitive the Cardinals were able to take both by a score of 25-17 and 25-19.
The Ball State men's volleyball team will be back in action on Saturday in Worthen Arena as the Cardinals are set to host Tusculum University. The match will be a matinee event with first serve at 3 p.m. ET.
You can purchase tickets through the Ball State ticket office online at BallStateSports.com/tickets, or by calling 765.285.1474 or 888.BSU.TICKET.
Face coverings are required inside Worthen Arena per campus policy.
