Men’s Volleyball Suffers 3-2 Heartbreaker to Rival Ohio State

Saturday, March 18

Columbus, OH

7 pm

Ball State University

12-8,5-3MIVA

Ohio State University

12-9,5-3MIVA

Ball St.

Ohio St.

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Men’s Volleyball Suffers 3-2 Heartbreaker to Rival Ohio State

March 18, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Cardinals knew tonight's road contest wasn't going to be easy against their longest rival Ohio State. So, it comes to no surprise that these two rivals would take the match to a fifth set after 41 ties and 11 lead changes.

Although the win column could have gone either way, unfortunately for the Cardinals (12-8, 5-3 MIVA) it was the Buckeyes (12-9, 5-3 MIVA) that would come out on top in the extra period winning the fifth set 15-12.

Ohio State did indeed hit better than Ball State tonight, totaling 67 kills off 133 swings for a .361 hitting percentage. The Cardinals on the other hand hit .230 from the floor.

For the game, the Cardinals were led by Kaleb Jenness with 16 kills while Tinaishe Ndavazocheva registered 14 kills.

It was a tightly contested first set that went point-for-point with multiple ties and lead changes. The Cardinals went up 24-23 after the Buckeyes Samuel Clark's service error. Ndavazocheva would clinch set point with a kill to give BSU the, 25-23 win.

The second frame mimicked the first set as it was a battle until late in the. frame. The Cardinals' Vanis Buckholz would put the exclamation point on the set with a nice kill up the middle to push Ball State's cushion to 2-0 in the match.

Ohio State began to make its comeback by taking sets three and four to send the match into an extra period.

The fifth set was tied nine times with two lead changes. Ohio State was able to go up 12-10 late in the fifth frame and Ball State never recovered. The Buckeyes would then use that momentum to win the match.

The Ball State men's volleyball team continues MIVA action when it hosts Quincy Friday at 7 pm ET in Worthen Arena.