Ball State Falls To No. 14 Ohio State, 3-0

       MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's volleyball team saw its six-match winning streak come to an end Friday night as the Cardinals fell to No. 14 Ohio State 3-0 (28-30, 32-34, 23-30) at Worthen Arena. The loss drops the Cardinals to 6-2 on the season and 1-2 in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action while Ohio State improves to 7-4 overall and 4-0 in the MIVA.

        "It is disappointing as we were right there in the first two games," head coach Joel Walton said. "We had a chance to put both games away but we weren't able to close them out. It is critical to win those two-point games at home. I want to congratulate Pete Hanson on his 500th career victory with the Buckeyes."

        Redshirt junior Anders Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) paced the offense for the Cardinals as he tallied a team-high 11 kills while swinging at a .588 (11-1-17) clip. Nelson also tallied six block assists to lead the Cardinals who finished with 10 total blocks in the loss.

        Ball State started game one off quickly as it opened to an early 4-1 lead as Nelson highlighted the run with a pair of early kills. Ohio State and Ball State traded points before the Cardinals ran off three straight to take an 18-12 lead as redshirt sophomore Dominic Spadavecchio (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) and senior Eric Schulte (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood) posted back-to-back kills.

        Ohio State rallied with a 4-1 run to narrow the gap to 21-19 and force a BSU timeout. The Buckeyes got back-to-back kills from Mik Berzins, who also capped the run with a service ace to pull OSU within two. Ohio State pulled even at 23-23 after a Ball State attack error, but the Cardinals answered back behind the defensive play of senior Ethan Pheister (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood), who kept a pair of rallies alive. Spadavecchio took advantage as he notched consecutive kills to put BSU in front 25-23 and force an OSU timeout.

        Ohio State closed the game on a 7-3 run to take the first game 30-28 as Shawn Sangrey tallied a kill and a block assist for the final two points. Berzins led OSU in the first game with five kills while Spadavecchio paced the Cardinals with six kills.

        The second game saw both offenses heat up as they combined for 38 kills and hit only 11 errors in the game. The Cardinals hit .364 (20-8-33) in the game while the Buckeyes recorded a .517 attack percentage (20-8-33). Anders was the offensive catalyst in game two for the Cardinals as he tallied seven kills while Sangrey led OSU with seven kills in the game.

                Ohio State maintained its momentum in the second game as it opened on a 5-1 run as Sangrey had two early service aces. The Cardinals battled back and tied the game at 16-16 as Nelson turned in consecutive kills. The teams traded points back-and-forth before the Cardinals forced game point as Nelson and Pheister combined to block Sangrey, putting BSU in front 29-28.

        The Buckeyes extended the game and the teams again traded points before OSU took the lead 32-31 on a BSU attack error. The Cardinals kept the game alive as OSU turned in a service error to tie the game for the 17th time at 32-32. Ohio State closed out the game though as it notched two consecutive blocks to take the game 34-32.

        The teams came out in game three and continued the see-saw affair with the Cardinals taking an early 9-6 lead with four straight points. Nelson and Spadavecchio ignited the spurt on the defensive end with a pair of combined blocks. Ohio State answered back to take a 15-12 lead as it posted a 4-1 run to force a BSU timeout.

                The Buckeyes extended their lead to 22-16 on a pair of BSU attack errors and closed out the third game 30-23. Both teams cooled offensively in the third game as the Cardinals hit .179 (12-7-28) in the final game while Ohio State posted a .148 (11-7-27) attack percentage.

                Spadavecchio ended the night with nine kills for the Cardinals while junior J.D. Gasparovic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) added eight kills while hitting .545 (8-2-11). Ohio State was led by Sangrey who posted a match-high 15 kills while Kevin Heine ended the night with 10 kills.

        Ball State returns to action next weekend when it hits the road for the first of four straight away games as the Cardinals face Quincy Friday night at 7 p.m.