After a tough loss to Ohio State Friday, the men's volleyball team bounced back in dominating wins over Quincy and Mercyhurst at home.
The Cardinals (12-13, 7-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) dropped a conference game to the Buckeyes 3-2 (30-21, 31-29, 30-26, 30-21, 15-10) at home.
BSU started out poorly against the Buckeyes, letting them take a nine-point run to lead the first game 13-5. The Cardinals, riddled with errors, couldn't overcome the deficit and the Buckeyes' defense.
The team bounced back in game two, fighting to maintain a one-to-three-point lead throughout. Scott Bushong hit the game-winning kill.
"Ohio State is a really good team, and any time we play each other, it's always real competitive," Bushong said.
A kill by outside attacker Luis Castera helped the Cards take the lead and go on a six-point run to make it 24-21 and eventually win the game. The team, which had suffered in blocking in the first game, managed to earn eight blocks in the second and third games.
Despite a strong start in the fourth game, Ball State lost energy and dropped the fourth and fifth games.
Castera led the team with 18 kills but committed 15 errors. Evan Berg contributed 16 kills but 10 errors, and Patrick Durban and Zoran Grabovac each had 12 kills. Overall, Ball State had 44 errors to Ohio State's 21.
"Ohio State is probably the best blocking team in our conference, so it's very hard to put up good numbers against them," head coach Joel Walton said.
The Cards turned things around Saturday when they faced the Flyers (7-14, 3-10 MIVA).
Ball State handed them three double-digit defeats to win the match 3-0 (30-19, 30-17, 30-19).
An early kill by Durbin helped the Cards take control of the first game and earn a 6-2 lead. The closest the Flyers got was four points at 8-4 before Ball State blew the lead open.
The Cards again took control in the second game, with three kills by Castera helping the team to a 10-3 lead.
Quincy battled back in the third game, keeping within one to two points of BSU. Andrew Braley scored a kill at 11-8 that helped the Cards finally pull ahead of the Flyers for good.
The team broke its season-high hitting percentage, which was set last weekend, at .398 against Quincy. Castera had a better night, again leading the team with nine kills and only one error.
"I was just more enjoying the game tonight," Castera said. "I took my time."
Berg and Bushong, who had no errors for the night, each added seven kills.
Ball State had another strong offensive game in a 3-0 win against Mercyhurst (9-10, 5-9 MIVA) Sunday but struggled in the first two games defensively.
The Cardinals won game one 30-24 with a hitting percentage of .583 but had no blocks.
The teams stayed close until Durban put away a kill to make it 21-18. Three more kills from Castera and a kill by Zoran Grabovac helped end the game.
BSU again put away the Lakers in game two at 30-26, adding one block in the game. The Cardinals and Lakers started to put up a defensive effort in game three, with the Cards adding six blocks and the Lakers adding seven. However, Ball State beat the Lakers 30-23.
Walton said the team had a hard time putting up a defensive effort because it had not played Mercyhurst before.
"It was one of those things where the familiarity wasn't there," he said.
Castera had 15 kills, Bushong added 10 and Grabovac contributed nine with no errors (.643).
The Cards will face conference-rivals IPFW and Mercyhurst again next weekend, where Walton said the team hopes to finally break ahead of a tie with IPFW for fourth place in the MIVA.
"We don't have a team this year that has continually dominated people," he said. "I would look at IPFW and Mercyhurst on the road as two big wins."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
