When outside attacker Lee Meyer arrived to the St. John Arena on Thursday afternoon, he was not expecting to play that much.
Balancing his class schedule as an architecture major and being a member of the Ball State University men's volleyball team, the sophomore had not even been able to fully practice with the team.
None of that mattered for Meyer in Ball State's conference tournament semifinals match against No. 12 Lewis University.
After rallying from a two-game deficit to force a fifth game, Meyer had a game-high four kills to win the decisive game. This victory advanced the Cardinals into the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament championship match.
"It was just encouraging," Meyer said. "This season has been tough on me and architecture has dominated it. To go out and play well was just encouraging for me."
Coming off the bench midway through the second game to replace starter Matt Sprague, Meyer finished the match with a season-high 10 kills and a match-high .533 attack percentage. This performance helped the Cardinals overcome a two-game deficit in the conference tournament for the first time in program history.
In preparing for this match throughout the week, coach Joel Walton said he never imagined Meyer would have significant playing time against Lewis. The coach also said putting Meyer into the match was the difference because the Flyers were not prepared to face him.
"Sometimes at tournament time, it can be the guy that no one has seen that surprises people," Walton said. "They have scouted starters and schemed this team. It can be that unknown player that makes all the difference."
As a serving specialist throughout the regular season, Meyer played in all but three of Ball State's (18-9, 6-4 MIVA) matches. In its two previous matches against Lewis, Meyer came off the bench in both of them primarily to serve and had a combined two attack attempts.
Meyer said he was realistic about his chances of playing in the semifinals match, but was willing to help the team after Sprague had a -.222 attack percentage against the Flyers.
"It has been my role to step in when the starters are struggling," Meyer said. "I couldn't image [Thursday] I was going to be in there, but I feel I played well."
Despite having limited practice time this season, Walton said he was comfortable putting into Meyer into the match because he has recently played well in practice.
One of the aspects of his game Meyer worked to improve the last few weeks was his passing and blocking, he said.
In the win, Meyer had two blocks. Ball State also held Lewis to less than a .150 attack percentage in the final three games, including a .067 attack percentage in the third game.
"I practice to be ready to play my heart out, and under those circumstance it is encouraging," Meyer said.
Meyer was one of three players to come off the bench and play a majority of the match.
Outside attacker Eric Schulte replaced starting left outside attacker Dominic Spadavecchio and had five kills. In addition, all-conference middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic played for the first time about three weeks.
Missing the last four matches because of mononucleosis, Gasparovic entered the match at the start of the second game and had 10 kills and a .526 attack percentage.
Prior to the match Walton said Gasparovic would not be available. The coach learned Wednesday night Gasparovic was not in danger of injuring his spleen if he played, Walton said he did not hesitate to put him into the match.
Gasparovic said he was anxious to return to the court following his long absence. He also said after the match that he was feeling fine and ready to play in the championship match.
"I did well. I wasn't expecting to be in as good of shape as I was in," Gasparovic said. "I was trying to caught my breath a few times, but I'm just happy to be back."
With this win, Ball State will play the regular season conference champions No. 10 Ohio State University in the MIVA title match at 7 p.m. Saturday in Columbus. This will be a rematch of the last season's conference championship match when the Buckeyes swept the Cardinals.
Walton said he is not sure if he will start Meyer and Schulte following their success in the semifinals.
For Meyer though, he said he is more concerned about winning the program's first conference title in seven years instead of his playing time.
"If I'm a part of it that's great. If I'm not, I'm going to do my part to be enthusiastic and help my team from the sidelines," he said.
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