With the first week of the young season behind them, the Ball State men's volleyball team is undefeated and had a successful weekend in Pennsylvania.
The Cardinals started the "Quaker State" trip with a No. 14 (in the nation) ranking. After a convincing upset against then No. 6 Penn State and a win at St. Francis University, Ball State has served, set, blocked, killed and dug its way to a No. 10 ranking and a 3-0 match record.
"Going into Penn State on their home floor and beating them is a wonderful opportunity," coach Joel Walton said. "Especially in straight sets."
Ball State managed to keep the edge in the first two games before Walton pulled his team together to explain the significance of a victory on the Nittany Lions' floor.
"After winning two first two games we just talked to our guys and explained to them that coming in here and winning, especially 3-0, was a huge opportunity," Walton said. "We weren't concerned about their intensity, they had been playing intense all day, and we just wanted to see our guys finish things up."
Penn State, typically known for its football prestige, is a perennial favorite in men's volleyball as well. With its tradition of success and experience, the Nittany Lions are one team that Walton highly respects.
"It's a team that's ranked because they had most of their kids back," Walton said. "We had to go in there, stare them down and continue to make plays. We made it hard for them to get on track."
The Cardinals derailed the Lions with their scrappy defense.
"Defense is three things (serve, block, and digging)," Walton said. "I think we did all three of those things well. When we could have made the mistakes to lose, we made the plays to win."
In the second game, the Cardinals faced a discouraging 19-11 deficit. Nick Meyer was replaced by freshman Todd Chamberlain, giving the Cardinals a spark.
"Nick Meyer came out flat," Walton said. "We were able to put Todd in and he had some big kills when we needed them. He had two blocks and came in and steadied out our team."
After a 6-0 run the Cardinals were back in action and ready to fly. Going back and forth with several lead changes the rest of the way, the Cardinals won the second game and finished the third, beating Penn State (32-30, 30-28, 30-28).
The victory for the Cardinals demonstrated their team focus and efforts. Zoran Grabovac and Matt McCarthy both had five blocks, while Patrick Durbin had 16 kills and McCarthy added 12. Ian Peckler had 12 digs while Evan Berg had nine. Dave Carlson had 38 assists and two service aces.
On Sunday, the Cardinals traveled to St. Francis University. Ball State was able to sweep the Red Flash in three games as well (30-24, 30-22, 30-28).
Meyer had 20 kills and an ace. Ian Peckler had 10 digs and Dave Carlson triumphed with nine. Meyer led BSU in blocks (seven), while McCarthy (five) and Doug Wilman (two) also chipped in. Wilman added a game-winning service ace.
"I would like to see more consistency," Walton said. "We'd like to work on serving and passing being that they are staples of the game. The guys know what it takes to play on a high level, but we've still got work to do."
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