As middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic walked off the Worthen Arena court Friday night he could not help but feel a sense of relief.
After the last three weeks, its understandable why the players on the Ball State University men's volleyball felt that way.
Entering the season ranked No. 13 and then losing straight three matches, Ball State won its first match of the season - sweeping No. 11 Lewis University 30-26, 32-30, 34-32.
"This was a statement win," Gasparovic said. "People thought our previous performance described us. They never saw us play at our potential and this shows our true potential. We're here to make a statement. We are going to be a force."
Prior to this match, the Cardinals (1-3, 1-0 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) had lost its last two matches against national ranked teams - No. 6 Stanford University and No. 1 Penn State University. It also fell out of the top 15 coaches poll Monday for the first time this season.
Playing the team predicted to win the MIVA in the preseason, outside attacker Eric Schulte said Ball State came into the match confident and took the Flyers out of its offensive rhythm.
"I've never seen our team come together to be that focused and that determined to prove a point to our conference and the nation that we're a team that can contend and play with anybody," he said.
Ball State had a season-high .311 attack percentage as both starting middle attackers Gasparovic and Matt McCarthy each had at least a .500 attack percentage.
Gasparovic had a match-high .591 attack percentage and career-high 15 kills against Lewis. He also had a season-high 4.5 blocks, including one solo block in the first game.
Coach Joel Walton said Gasparovic played well against Lewis. He also said Gasparovic's work the off-season made him more of an offensive threat during his sophomore season.
"Last year he lived on one particular shot," Walton said. "He has developed to where he can hit both directions and makes it a lot harder for teams to defended him."
One thing helping Gasparovic against Lewis was the return of McCarthy to the starting lineup, the middle attacker said. After missing the first three matches with a shoulder injury, McCarthy had seven kills and two blocks in the win.
"Matt is one our veterans," Gasparovic said. "Just his knowledge of the game and his experience he instills confidence in people. He installs confidence in me."
In addition to Gasparovic, Ball State had four players finish the match with at least nine kills.
The Cardinals were able to have a balanced offense against the Flyers, Walton said, because for the first time this season the team passed well.
"If we can balance our offense it makes us a lot more difficult to stop. We can hurt teams from different places," Walton said. "We have to pass well otherwise we lean almost exclusively on our outside attackers because we can't work a ball to our middles."
The Cardinals now have a 10-match winning streak against the Flyers and have won their last 12 conference home matches. In the last three seasons, the team winning MIVA regular season title has not lost a home MIVA match.
Gasparovic said with how Ball State played Friday it will be able to carry that momentum throughout the rest of the season.
"We know have the confidence. We now know how we can play it," Gasparovic said. "We just need to keep on going. Keep on going strong like this."
Five things to take away1. Beating No. 11 Lewis ended Ball State's three-match losing streak to open the season.
2. Middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic had a match-high 15 kills and 4.5 blocks.
3. Middle attacker Matt McCarthy played in his first match of the season on Friday. He had seven kills and a .500 attack percentage.
4. Outside attacker Eric Schulte had double-digit kills and digs for the first time in his career. Schulte had 12 kills and 12 digs.
5. With No. 11 Lewis, No. 14 Loyola and No. 15 St. Francis losing this weekend, Ball State could jump back into this week's top 15 coaches poll.
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