The Ball State University men's volleyball team started off the season with an 11-game winning streak that made it the only undefeated Division I team. A little over a month later it has struggled down the stretch, winning four of the last nine games.
On Friday, the Cardinals lost 3-1 (30-27, 31-29, 28-30, 30-19) and moved to 15-5 (4-4 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association), while Loyola improves to 17-6 (7-1 MIVA).
During game one, the Cardinals jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead before the Ramblers started playing and tied the game at seven apiece. The game was close all the way, tied last at 27-27. Loyola scored the last three points and won game one 30-27.
Game two was the most pivotal for the Cardinals in the match and went to game point. Ball State held a 29-27 lead before allowing four consecutive Rambler points.
"The most disappointing part was game two we were up 29-27 and they got a kill, then they aced us," Walton said. "They aced again before we hit a ball into the net."
Game three was a must-win for the Cardinals to stay in the match and it was won 30-28. During game four though, Ball State's energy disappeared and the match was handed to the Ramblers with a final score of 19-30.
"We were right there and just didn't finish off," Walton said. "We had some leads and just weren't able to hold on. In the fourth game we gave an early amount of points and it opened up a bigger lead."
Ball State traveled to Quincy University for another tough MIVA match. The Cardinals started the match poorly, losing the first set 30-20. But then the Cardinals rebounded and won the next three games.
"We were able to make a change in game two bringing Evan Berg in Todd Chamberlain's spot," Walton said. "Berg, for not playing in game one, in the outside, came in and had a good performance in games two through four."
During the match junior Nick Meyer paced all with 23 kills and an ace. Matt McCarthy had 11 kills and four blocks and Patrick Durbin had 10 kills, two aces and two blocks. Senior Dave Carlson had 48 assists and a .667 hitting percentage.
"We were getting to a point where we needed to see a personality change, and we got there this weekend," Walton said.
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