Facing off against McKendree men’s volleyball team, which played its first match Friday, Ball State started clearing its bench in the second set.
The men’s volleyball team, used to seeing its veterans get the majority of attacks, may not have been expecting players like Mike Scannell, Alex Pia and Connor Gross to see action.
Playing in the third and fourth sets of his career, Scannell stood out from the rest of the freshmen.
“It’s the first game I hit over .600, so I’m pretty excited right now,” Scannell said after his team knocked off McKendree. “I think both teams still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy with how I played.”
There’s little reason for him to be unhappy. Scannell finished with seven kills on nine attempts, good for a .667 hitting percentage. He was tied with Larry Wrather for second most kills, trailing only Marcin Niemczewski who played all three sets.
Pacing across the court, his attacks consistently found open spots on Mckendree’s side with ease. He had just one attacking error and two blocks to complete his night.
He worked particularly well with setter Hiago Garchet, who fed the ball to Scannell on five of his seven kills. Garchet relied on the freshman outside attacker often, as the two showed chemistry and communication throughout the second set.
Garchet produced some unorthodox sets while getting the ball to Scannell, but it worked as he connected on every set, hitting 1.000 while working with Garchet.
“He was able to get some good attacks because of solid sets from Hiago,” Ball State head coach Joel Walton said. “We took some pretty impressive cuts from him and it allowed our attackers to have great chances.”
Scannell’s match was one of the strongest for a Ball State freshman this season. His seven kills best the six kills outside hitter Brendan Surane collected against UC Irvine.
There’s a large difference in talent between UC Irvine and McKendree.
“Their roster just isn’t deep enough to compete with the talent level our conference is in right now,” Walton said.
Scannell played in just one other match before McKendree: a loss to Saint Francis in which he played two sets, totaling just one kill.
The freshman’s first regular season match at home was one he’s proud of.
“I think I played pretty well,” he said with a smile growing across his face.
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