Let the growing pains begin.
With a 3-0 sweep of St. Francis on Saturday night, the Ball State men's volleyball team picked up two wins in its three-match week to stand with a 3-2 record.
Yet the lone loss coming to George Mason on Friday may sting more than a typical defeat. Ball State stood one point away from winning in the fifth game, leading 14-11, when George Mason outside attacker Mark Jones took over. He delivered four of the Patriots' next five points and stunned the Cardinals on their own court for a 16-14 win.
Even if the loss managed to dampen the feeling of Ball State's play in both victories, junior outside attacker Larry Wrather said he hoped the team could learn from it.
"It was a bitter taste that we wanted to get out of our mouths right away," Wrather said. "We're young, but have a lot to learn still. We have great leadership on this team that we can take from it."
The extended week of three matches, with one on Wednesday against Sacred Heart followed by George Mason on Friday and St. Francis on Saturday, gave several Ball State players a greater chance to impress the coaching staff.
Junior outside attacker Jamion Hartley gradually became a more reliable offensive threat as the week went on, improving his attack percentage in each of the three matches to eventually hit .320 against St. Francis.
Hartley even performed well on defense by the end of the homestand, an area he typically struggles in. Coach Joel Walton said he was glad to see Hartley pick up his play in several facets of his game as the week progressed.
"I thought [Hartley's] blocking was better," Walton said. "The other thing I thought that Jamion did well tonight was he put his serve in play and he was hitting his spots. And I'm pleased to see Jamion putting up some pretty impressive attacking numbers and attacking some harder shots in situations where there's going to be a bigger block out in front of him."
Freshman outside attacker Shane Witmer was forced to quickly develop into a solid player as he started all three of Ball State's matches during the week.
While there were some bumps along the way, he ended up with 22 kills, a .197 attacking percentage and 21 digs through the three matches combined.
Witmer's all-around play with such inexperience at the collegiate level left Walton impressed.
"Witmer, for a freshman, is doing some pretty nice things out there," he said. "Shane ball controls in out-of-system moments pretty well and puts the ball in a place where we can do something aggressive with it."
The defensive presence of sophomore middle attackers Matt Leske and Kevin Owens at the net, with Leske accumulating 24 blocks and Owens totaling 20 in the first five matches, has given Ball State the chance to stay competitive in most games early in the year. Sophomore setter Graham McIlvaine's continued growth in his second season as a starter has helped the team as well.
With its homestand now complete, Ball State will travel this weekend to play Conference Carolinas opponents Limestone on at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Pfeiffer at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
For more coverage of the men's volleyball team, follow @andrewmishler on Twitter.
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