The Ball State University men's volleyball team traveled to California in search of national respect.
The team fell four points short of earning that respect, coach Joel Walton said.
No. 7 Stanford University rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat Ball State 28-30, 25-30, 30-22, 31-29, 15-11 on Saturday.
"It's hard to be good mood after a match like this," outside attacker Patrick Durbin said. "I'm frustrated, and everyone on this team is frustrated."
With this loss, Ball State (5-6, 2-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) is 0-6 against nationally-ranked teams this season.
Walton said it's frustrating for him to be winless against top-15 ranked teams because his team has the potential to be a top-caliber team.
"It's certainly driving me crazy," Walton said. "We earned a degree of respect this weekend but we have yet to beat a ranked team. That is what we have to do to get respect from the East and West Coast."
Walton said one thing affecting Ball State's performance against Stanford was the lack of advanced scouting.
Saturday was the first time this season and third time since 2004 Stanford played a team from the MIVA. As a result, Ball State didn't have an opportunity to watch any film on Stanford before the match, Walton said.
"We went into the match blind," he said. "If we had a chance to look at Stanford, we would have had a more intricate game plan and not have to coach so off the cuff."
Prior to the Stanford match, Ball State defeated the University of Pacific in four games Friday. The match was the first time the Cardinals won a match on the West Coast since the 2003 season.
Durbin finished the weekend with a combined 39 kills, including 25 kills against Stanford.
Walton said Durbin and outside attacker Todd Chamberlain played well this weekend but the Cardinals need to have third offensive option emerge for it to beat nationally-ranked teams consistently.
"It's not only the type of performance we expect from Pat, it's what we need from him," Walton said. "What is going to help get over the hump is getting that third option."
Ball State will not play again until it travels to the East Coast to play No. 12 George Mason University on Friday and Rutgers-Newark University on Saturday.
Walton said the upcoming weekend's matches are must-wins for the Cardinals, especially with George Mason being nationally ranked.
"We have to win them both," Walton said.
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