All it took was one game for outside attacker Dominic Spadavecchio to break a 23-year school record.
Spadavecchio had eight aces in the first game of a sweep against Quincy University on Saturday to set the Ball State University men's volleyball team's record for most aces in a conference match.
"It's pretty cool," Spadvecchio said. "Definitely builds my confidence on the service line."
Ball State (14-8, 5-4 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) won the home match against last-place Quincy 30-19, 30-17, 30-27.
Being pulled midway through the second game, Spadavecchio did not record an ace in the final two games, finishing the match with eight aces. Fernando de Armas previously held the record with seven aces in a five-game MIVA victory against IPFW in 1986.
Spadavecchio said he was not upset with coach Joel Walton's decision to remove him from the match. Walton also said it was the right thing to do for his team.
"Guys kept tell me, 'Hey he has eight service aces, eight service aces.' That wasn't the most important thing [Saturday]," the coach said. "It was more important to work some other people in."
This was Spadavecchio's sixth consecutive match in which he started at the right outside attacker position. Joining the team as a walk-on in September 2006, he redshirted as a freshman last season and mostly came off the bench as a serving specialist at the beginning of this season.
Spadavecchio said his serving ability is one the main reasons he moved into the starting position about two weeks ago.
"I've been serving pretty well lately," he said. "I just need to get everything else clicking and I feel good to go."
Seven of Spadavecchio's aces came in two of his three times at the serving line.
Opening the match as Ball State's first server, Spadavecchio had three aces on his first four attempts to help the Cardinals start on a 5-0 run. With Cardinals leading 20-17, he also had four aces in a six-point run to expand the lead to nine.
"The first game was close, and he opened it up with a streak of points," Walton said.
Spadavecchio's performance tied him with current assistant coach Mark Rumschik and former All-American outside attacker Todd Reimer for the third-most aces in any Ball State match. Rumschik, a former outside attacker, had eight aces in non-conference sweep against Central State University in 2006, and Reimer did it in a five-game win against George Mason University in 1994.
The Cardinals' all-time record for most aces is 11. Middle attacker Matt McCarthy and outside attacker Mark Termion both set this program record in the 2006 win against Central State - the same match in which Rumschik had eight aces.
When he was removed in the second game, Spadavecchio said he was not aware of being three aces away from tying the record. The outside attacker also said he is not upset that he did not get more time to try to break the record.
"It would have been cool to get double digits I have to say, but it is what it is," Spadavechhio said. "I'm happy we got the win."
With this win, Ball State ends its four-match conference losing streak and remains in third place in the MIVA.
The Cardinals have one conference match left - a road match against IPFW on April 11 - before playing in the MIVA Tournament starting in late April. If Ball State wins its final game, it will secure at least the No. 4 seed and will host a conference tournament quarterfinal match.
Libero Billy Ebel said the win against Quincy was a nice start to the end of the regular season, especially after losing to first-place Ohio State University in five-games Friday.
"We got to start something new. We have to finish out the rest of regular season," Ebel said. "Finish all right going into conference confident, and that's what we have to be prepared to do. I think tonight we proved that by winning in three."
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