Ball State Wins 3-2 Thriller Over Rutgers-Newark

   MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's volleyball team extended its winning streak to six matches with a thrilling 3-2 (30-26, 29-31, 30-21, 25-30, 15-8) victory over Rutgers-Newark Saturday evening at Worthen Arena. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 6-1, while the Scarlet Raiders fall to 1-4.

   "There were times tonight when our passing broke and we did not do a very good job of running our offense," said Ball State head coach Joel Walton. "To our team's credit, when we need a performance in the fifth game our guys stepped up and made some really nice plays."

   In the win, junior Lee Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller H.S.) posted his second-straight double-double by tying for team-high honors in both kills (16) and digs (13). Overall, four different Cardinals finished the match with double-digit kills as redshirt freshman Jamion Hartley (North Chicago, Ill./North Chicago H.S.) tied Meyer for team-high honors with 16.

   Redshirt sophomore Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) added 13 kills to go along with a .417 (13-3-24) attack percentage, while J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) posted 11 kills in addition to five total blocks (three solo, two assists) and a .400 (11-3-20) hitting mark.

   Senior setter Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) guided the Ball State offense to a .273 (69-28-150) attack percentage, while serving up a match-best four aces. Freshman Larry Wrather (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forrest H.S.) added three service aces in the contest, including a pair of pivotal blasts in the fifth frame.

   "As we move along in the season, we have to do a better job with our offensive consistency," added Walton. "Part of our problem is our passing tempo. We need to get the ball to Ethan in a rhythm, which will help our hitters get into rhythm and allow our offense to be more consistent."

   Two-time reigning MIVA Defensive Player of the Week senior Billy Ebel (Lenexa, Kan./Bishop Miege H.S.) tied Meyer for team-high honors with 13 digs.

   Overall, the Cardinals held a .273 to .212 (62-30-151) attacking advantage in the match, while tallying 15 team blocks compared to 13 for the Scarlet Raiders. BSU also held a slim 47 to 46 edge in digs.

   Rutgers-Newark's Marcin Midura paced all players with 19 kills, while Nate Stott added 16 and Kenneth de Groh blasted 11, to go along with a team-best 12 digs for RNU's only double-double of the match.

   Following an ace from RNU's Mark Kochan to open the match, a Hartley kill and a pair of Scarlet Raiders errors gave the Cardinals a 3-1 advantage. BSU extended its lead to five points, at 9-4, after an Anders Nelson (St. Croix, Wis./St. Croix Falls H.S.) kill and another visitor's error.

   With the Cardinals maintaining the five-point edge at the 17-12 mark, Rutgers-Newark came to life scoring the next four points to force a BSU timeout at 17-16. The guests eventually tied the set at 20 on a BSU attack error, and took a brief 23-22 edge on a Jon Keller service ace.

   Two errors and a block from Nelson and Pheister helped BSU battle back and pull ahead 25-23. A Pheister ace gave BSU game-point moments later at 29-26, while a RNU attack error ended the frame at 30-26.

   Game two was the closest of the night with 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The Cardinals took an early 14-10 lead on a Gasparovic kill, only to see Rutgers-Newark battle back to tie the frame at 16 on a block from de Kochan and Groh.

   After playing to a 24-24 stalemate, the guests went on a 5-2 run to reach game-point, at 29-26 on a kill from Midura. Ball State would not go down without a fight, rattling off the next three points to tie the frame at 29. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, kills from de Groh and Stott ended the frame at 31-29 and evened the match at one game apiece.

   Ball State responded out of the long break with a dominating third game effort. The Cardinals opened a 4-1 lead thanks in part to a pair of kills and a block assist from Hartley. With the score 14-10, Ball State went on a 5-0 run to extend its advantage to 19-10. In the run Gasparovic and Meyer each added a kill, while Pheister served up an ace.

   The Cardinals took their first 10-point lead at 26-16 and reached frame-point at 29-18. Rutgers-Newark tallied the next three points, but another Hartley kill ended the game at 30-21. In all, the Cardinals posted a .464 (16-3-28) attacking mark in the third frame, while limiting the Scarlet Raiders to a .000 (11-11-32) rate of success. Ball State also scored six blocks in the third game.

   After the teams traded the first four points, it was Rutgers-Newark who would take control of the fourth game. The guests built an early four-point lead at 9-5 and extended the advantage to five moments later at 14-9. The Scarlet Raiders would reach game-point at 29-21, and despite a four-point run from the Cardinals, win the set 30-25 on a BSU service error.

   Gasparovic and Pheister got the fifth game rolling with a kill and an ace, respectively, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 edge. With BSU holding a 5-3 advantage, a Meyer kill and a ace from senior Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) pushed the score to 7-3.

   Marcin stopped the BSU rally with a kill, while a block from Brett Pickens and de Groh moved the score to 7-5. After the teams traded the next two points, a costly RNU service error moved the score to 9-6 and gave the serve for BSU's Wrather.

   Wrather followed with aces on the next two rallies, and from there, the Cardinals reached match-point at 14-7. Two plays later, a Spadavecchio kill secured the victory for the Cardinals.

   The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Friday, when it hosts No. 13 Ohio State in a pivotal Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association showdown at 7:30 p.m. in Worthen Arena.