The men's volleyball team won two matches without dropping a set to win the Golden Dome Classic tournament at Rutgers.
Junior setter Keith Schunzel dished out 72 assists in the two matches on his way to being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Junior Jary Delgado and senior Josh Zuidema joined Schunzel on the all-tourney team.
"We had three guys on the all-tournament team," head coach Joel Walton said. "You only get those kind of honors if your whole team is doing well."
The No. 6 Cardinals opened the tournament Friday by beating Division II East Stroudsburg 30-19, 30-19, 30-26. Schunzel had 38 assists in the match, helping the team to a .369 hitting percentage. Delgado contributed 10 kills and Zuidema nine.
In the championship game, the Cardinals played Rutgers, who advanced by beating Concordia 3-1. The team beat the Scarlet Knights 30-20, 30-22, 30-17, hitting .403 for the match.
Schunzel had 34 assists and Delgado and Zuidema had nine kills each in the championship game.
"We had a really good hitting percentage (in the tournament)," Walton said. "(Schunzel) is the quarterback who puts the ball where it needs to be and reads the other team's defense."
Ball State is currently ranked No. 6 in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. However, four of the top five lost matches last week. A new poll comes out Wednesday and Walton said his team has a chance to move up.
"It will be interesting to see how the votes are cast," Walton said. "I think the fact that we won both matches 3-0 should help us."
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