With center Dave Carlson out of the lineup, Ball State couldn't keep up with two ranked opponents over the weekend.
The injury-riddled Cardinals were dominated by 12th-ranked Ohio State 3-0 on Friday, then fell 3-1 against 14th-ranked George Mason on Saturday.
Carlson, who injured his back last weekend while warming up before the Brigham Young game, didn't travel with the team. Zoran Grabovoc played despite suffering from aggravated tendinitis last week in practice.
Now 5-6 overall and 0-2 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Cardinals find themselves towards the bottom of the MIVA standings in seventh place.
Falling fast and hard, Ball State lost in three games to the Buckeyes, 30-19, 30-21, 30-22. Coach Joel Walton said the team's struggles over the weekend were because of three reasons-the quality of their opponent, the loss of Carlson, and nobody else elevating their game.
"It hurts not having your starting center. It especially hurts when you're playing Ohio State, who's a very good team, and George Mason," Walton said. "Both of those teams are putting together pretty fantastic seasons."
Struggling offensively, the Cardinals were limited to a .130 attack percentage for the match, including a dismal .097 in game three.
"We knew we were going to have to play very well," Walton said. "Since we didn't have Dave, we knew we'd have to pass well and make it as easy as possible for Evan Berg to run the offense. We didn't do that."
Ball State faired a little better against George Mason the following night, but not much, losing 3-1.
The Cardinals started strong against the Patriots, opening game one with a 12-4 lead. They never relinquished the lead, winning their first and only game of the weekend, 30-20. In that game Ball State hit for a .500 attack percentage, but that dropped to .100 in game two.
Luis Castera led Ball State with 13 kills and Nick Meyer added 10. Berg finished with a team-high 38 assists.
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