No. 9 Ball State (6-1 overall, 1-0 MIVA) kicked off its conference season with a sweep of Findlay Friday. The loss sent Findlay (4-4, 0-3) reeling downward in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Conference standings, having lost three straight.
The Cardinals were all over the floor, controlling the match with widespread team play on both offense and defense. The offense was incredible all night, finishing with 10 errors and hitting above .510 in the two of three games. Findlay never hit better than .179 and committed 22 errors.
"I thought we just had good team play," head coach Joel Walton said. "We played very consistently. (Keith) Schunzel did a good job of getting to all of our players tonight. Everybody had good numbers."
On defense, the Cardinals had six players with at least three digs in the match. The Cardinals' 34 digs helped force Findlay into hitting a dismal .093, including .062 in the final go-round.
"It was our focus. We wanted to start our defense from start to finish," said Walton, whose team is ranked third in the MIVA for digs. "I thought that we dug OK and we touched a lot of balls that they attacked. That makes it easier for us to get kills."
Because of the widespread team play, regular starters were able to rest while other players stepped up and handled their positions like veterans. Walton has been preaching the excessiveness of experience on the team since preseason and expressed no surprise in the team's collective effort and poise.
"We have seen this before," Walton said. "We were able to substitute and get different players in and maintain a high level of play. Tonight was a good example of the team's depth."
The Cardinals won the match 30-22, 30-22, 30-13. It was the team's third sweep of the season. Of the three matches in the history of the two schools together, Findlay has yet to pull out a victory, having only faced Ball State since last year.
Tuesday, however, will present a much bigger foe for the Cardinals as they face No. 10 Lewis for the first time this season. Lewis (3-3, 2-0) leads the all-time series 9-11 and the two teams split the season series last year, with the home team winning each time.
Tuesday's match, however, presents more recent drama. Lewis, which is a spot behind Ball State in the national USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll, is projected to finish first in the MIVA while Ball State was a step behind. The two teams will face off in the biggest match for the Cardinals so far Tuesday at 7 p.m. as Ball State plays host.
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