Coach Joel Walton could not have felt more relieved as he left the arena Saturday night.
After three failed attempts last week, the Ball State University men's volleyball team won a decisive fifth game to beat an opponent.
Finishing the match on a 7-2 run, Ball State defeated George Mason University 19-30, 32-30, 30-27, 28-30, 15-6 in Fairfax, Va.
"This definitely will help with our confidence," Walton said. "I don't know if it will be the determining factor when we are getting in our matches late this season, but it's nice to get the monkey off our backs."
Ball State played in three five-game conference matches in the last nine days, losing all three by a combined nine points. The losses dropped the team to third place and likely eliminated it from winning the regular-season title.
At the start of the fifth game against George Mason, Walton said, he did not talk to his players about importance of winning the game. The coach said, though, he knew the need to win for psychological reasons.
"I didn't tell them we have to win this match to know we can win a fifth game," Walton said. "I was just worried abut winning the match. That was our focus, but privately I was hoping."
Middle attacker Andy Nelson said the team was thinking about its recent struggles in game fives after failing to end the match in the fourth game. He also said most of the players' concerns were removed on the fifth game's opening point.
With George Mason setting its middle attacker after receiving the opening serve, Nelson jumped in front of the kill attempt for his only solo block in the match.
"I just took a shot, and I was right," Nelson said. "The way we rallied around it was great. They made errors, and our defense pressured them to make mistakes."
In the final game, the Patriots had six attack errors as Ball State out-hit George Mason .600 to -.111. It was also the only game Ball State had more blocks than George Mason -¡- finishing with four blocks.
The biggest difference in this game five compared to the three last week was Ball State's defense, Walton said.
"It's just one of those things. You get into a good defensive rhythm at times," he said. "You get your hands in the right position for blocks and you start digging. It couldn't happen at a better time."
The nine-point win was the Cardinals' largest margin of victory in a fifth game since the 1986 season.
Nelson said Ball State's defense elevated its play in the fifth game. He also said the defense put pressure on George Mason's outside attackers and forced them into committing attack errors.
"Everyone was determined to win that game," Nelson said. "You are so hyped up for that game that you are going to make plays that you haven't in the past."
With the win, Ball State extended its winning streak to three matches. Its next match will be against No. 14 Ohio State University on Friday at Worthen Arena - a team Ball State lost to in five games last week.
Five days before the match starts, Nelson said the team is already looking forward to playing the defending MIVA champion Buckeyes again.
"Everyone is very excited to get another shot at Ohio State because we felt like we didn't play our best the first time we played them," he said
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