The men's volleyball team picked up two wins at home this weekend that boosted its confidence before its strength of schedule increases. The victories kept the Cardinals perfect for the season at 3-0.
The Cardinals beat George Mason 3-1 Friday and Rutgers in straight sets Saturday. Head coach Joel Walton was concerned about how his young team would fare against the East Coast opponents, but said he was happy with Ball State's performance over the weekend.
"I feel good," Walton said. "We're gearing up our level of competition. It's going to be a challenge. To come through these matches, we're showing that we're making progress."
Setter Keith Schunzel, one of three seniors on the team, came up big for the Cardinals, especially against Rutgers.
In game two, the pivotal game of the match, Schunzel had five kills and three blocks, two categories setters don't score much in. His points came at big times, too. With Ball State down 27-28, Schunzel slammed a powerful kill to tie the game.
Neither team could get a two-point lead, so the game went into extra points, volleyball's equivalent of overtime. Schunzel nailed another kill to put the Cardinals up 35-34. On the next volley, he had the game-winning block.-á
The Cardinals were down one point late in game three when Schunzel came up big again.-á
"He made a blocking switch and went over to block in front of their best attacker and stuffed him," Walton said. "It wasn't anything that we told him to do. He did it himself."
The block tied the game and proved to be the momentum-changer in the match. The Cardinals came back and won the game 30-27. Schunzel also recorded the final kill on the game and match.
"I decided to switch myself and Evan Berg, hoping I'd come up with a block, and I luckily did," Schunzel said. "That seemed like a pretty critical point. It was a big play. It was at the end of the game, and anytime you get points at the end of the game, it's big."
Walton said playing at home gave his team a huge advantage over the weekend because playing in an arena as large as Worthen can be intimidating.
"It's tough for (Rutgers), as with other teams, to come into Worthen Arena because of the space," Walton said. "There just aren't that many places where men's volleyball teams play that you've got so much space around you."
Walton said the spacious arena is especially distracting on serves. He said it was a big factor in George Mason committing 14 service errors and Rutgers committing 22.
Freshman outside attacker Nick Meyer has led Ball State in kills in all three matches this season. He had 26 kills in the first two matches and had a hitting percentage of .346 against George Mason. Walton said Meyer's play is impressive because he started the season on the left side of the court, and Walton just recently moved him to the right.
"Nick's doing a great job for a freshman," Walton said. "I'm really impressed with him. I certainly don't want to hex him; I want him to stay aggressive out there and keep swinging."
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