As Patrick Durbin saw his match-winning kill hit the floor in-bounds, the senior outside attacker jumped multiple times and began to stomp his foot on the St. John Arena court in celebration.
Arriving to Ball State University in the fall of 2003, Durbin advanced to his first conference tournament championship match Thursday after he had a career-high 30 kills in a four-game win against No. 14 Lewis University in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association semifinals.
"It's ecstatic," Durbin said. "We are all on cloud nine, and we know that we haven't played our best volleyball yet."
Durbin finished Thursday tying a school record for the most kills in a four-game match during the rally scoring era. In addition, he surpassed his previous career high of 29 kills, which he had in a five-game win against IPFW on March 21.
Coach Joel Walton said Durbin's performance was huge because it opened up the court for other players.
Ball State had four players finish the match with at least 10 kills, including outside attacker Matt Sprague, who had a career-high 10 kills. The Cardinals outkilled Lewis 76-67 and had a .336 attack percentage, their second-highest attack percentage in a match since Feb. 10.
"They balance the offense against a team that we have played before, a team that we know and they know us very well," Walton said.
Durbin said prior to the match he would not have thought his performance Thursday could result in a career night. In Ball State's two regular-season matches against Lewis, Durbin had 17 kills in a five-game win Jan. 25 and 19 kills in a four-game win April 12.
One of the reasons Durbin and the entire offense played well Thursday, Walton said, was the result of the move the coach made two weeks ago, switching Durbin from the left outside attacker position to the right outside attacker.
Durbin said playing on the right side of the court benefits him in the Cardinals' MIVA championship match against No. 8 Ohio State University on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, because the Buckeyes played against Durbin when he was in the left outside attacker position.
"They probably saw most of the match [Thursday], but the fact they haven't been in the match with me on the right side, and that is a big advantage," Durbin said. "Our passing picks up on the right side, and you have to handle the ball on the right."
Ohio State swept Loyola-Chicago University in three games in its semifinal match Thursday. In the regular season, the Buckeyes and Cardinals split the season series at 1-1, with Ohio State winning the most recent match in four games April 10.
Libero Ian Peckler, who had 16 digs against Lewis to set the school's all-time career-digs record, said the entire Cardinals' team sat in the stands to watch Ohio State's semifinal match. He also said the team is confident it can win its first MIVA title since 2002.
"They played OK, but there were some weak points we found that we can exploit," he said.
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