The men's volleyball team was given two tough tests by Division III Springfield College over the weekend.
The No. 10 Cardinals eked by the Pride 3-1 Saturday and 3-2 Sunday. The two victories kept them undefeated at 6-0 .
Head coach Joel Walton warned his team before the matches not to overlook Springfield. The Pride have won the Division III championship three years in a row and played BSU tough in Fall 2002.
"I talked about them being Division III champions three years back-to-back and being good competitors," Walton said. "They showed that again tonight."
In Saturday's 30-25, 30-27, 28-30, 30-25 victory, Walton said his team lacked focus. The Cardinals hit .200, well below their goal of .350 against the Pride.
Freshman outside attacker Nick Meyer had 16 kills in Saturday's match. Senior outside attacker Jary Delgado added 13.
Although it took the Cardinals five sets to win Sunday, Walton said his team showed more focus. They hit .310, including .500 in the fifth set.
Ball State jumped ahead quickly Sunday, taking the first two sets 30-22 and 31-29. The Pride stormed back, coming from behind in sets three and four to win both and force a fifth.
"In Game 3 we just made too many errors," Walton said. "As the match wore on, (Springfield's) Brandon Meueler started hitting more efficiently for them. He was a one-man wrecking crew that just went off."
Meueler pounded 37 kills and .415 on the night. He had 10 kills in Game 3 and 11 in Game 4. He had 19 in Saturday's match.
Delgado and Meyer did most the damage for the Cardinals again Sunday. Delgado tied a career-high with 24 kills and hit .439. Meyer killed 21 balls while hitting .341. Both finished with 37 kills on the weekend.
"I don't think we focused too well today," Delgado said. "We kind of struggled on the blocking. They're not a bad team, but (we should have played better) in the first place."
The Cardinals now head to Hawaii for two matches against the No. 4 Rainbows on Wednesday and Thursday.
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