The Ball State University men's volleyball team split two matches on the weekend, bouncing back from a poor first game to win in the second.-á
IPFW handed Ball State their first loss of the season, making it a long bus ride for the Cards to Kenosha, Wis.-á
"They came out a little more prepared to win than we did," coach Joel Walton said. "They came to play and executed a lot better than we did."
In front of a near-capacity crowd in Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, the Mastodons took control early with a 30-20 game one win. In the first game, hard-hitting Mastodon sophomore C.J. Macias recorded 10 kills.
"It's a great crowd," Walton said. "We came in here last year and jumped on them early on, and quieted them down. Tonight the crowd was all over us and stayed there. We had problems executing in key moments."
In game two the Cardinals stepped up their play and kept the game close. Twice in the game Ball State found themselves down by a few and came back to keep it close to the point where IPFW had to call time-outs. The game remained close all the way into the thirties. The Mastodons inevitably took the game 35-33.
Freshman Matt McCarthy helped keep the Cardinals in the game. McCarthy had three kills within two minutes and added a much-needed spark to the fading Cardinals.
"Matt has something going on with his shoulder and wasn't supposed to be swinging at those," Walton said. "[Assistant coach] Kevin Furnish challenged him to get out there and get after the ball."
In game three, after a 21-21 tie, Ball State took the lead for good and won game three 30-28.
During game four Ball State fell behind early 5-0 and never gained ground.-áBall State fell in game four 30-24. Cardinal Nick Meyer had a season high 22 kills and IPFW's leader, Macias, finished with 32. -á
Saturday night the Cardinals faced Div. III Carthage. The Red Men took Ball State to five games in January and after a tough match against IPFW the Cardinals looked to bounce back. -á -á
Ball State took care of business beating the Red Men 3-0 (30-27, 30-23, 30-28). The Cardinals moved to 12-1 (3-1 MIVA) on the year and Carthage went to 5-6. -á
Nick Meyer and Patrick Durbin lead the way for the Cardinals with 14 kills apiece and hometown product Evan Berg finished with 11 kills in his return to home. Setter Dave Carlson had a successful venture guiding the Cardinals with a match-high 50 assists, four kills, and two service aces.-áBall State finished the match with a .308 hitting percentage while Carthage totaled a .248 percentage. They also won in blocking (10.5-7) and digs (39-30). -á
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
