Stat Leaders
Kills: Matt Szews and Mitch Weiler — 14
Assists: Connor Gross — 49
Digs: Adam Wessell — 13
Blocks: Matt Walsh — 5
Service Aces: Matt Szews and Brendan Surane — 2
Four Ball State men's volleyball players with 10 or more kills in the Cardinals' 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-13) won at Harvard (1-3) and improved to 5-1 on the season.
The Cardinals had built up a 14-10 lead in the final set, but three consecutive errors for Ball State brought Harvard right back. Ball State ended the match with a kill from senior outside attacker Brendan Surane, who had 13 on the night. Head coach Joel Walton said Surane was held out much of the fourth set after struggling with passing, but was brought back in to the match because of a favorable rotation in the fifth set.
"[Surane] hits very well from the right side of the net, and we were in a rotation where he would be sitting on the right side of the net attacking," Walton said. "After a couple of swings, he got one that he could put away and that was the finisher of the match."
The Cardinals racked up eight service errors in each of the two sets they lost. The Cardinals had a total of 26 service errors on the night but also added seven service aces.
"We understand that there will be some errors, it's more of making sure that they're confident and just getting back behind that service line and being aggressive," Walton said. "When you're in that moment, you want to get back there and serve a good serve to give your team the best chance possible to win that point."
Junior outside attacker Mitch Weiler led the Cardinals with 14 kills and a season-high 10 digs. The Cardinals also had strong performances from freshman outside attacker Matt Szews, who had 14 kills, and junior middle attacker Matt Walsh ,who had season-high 11 kills and five blocks.
"I'm pleased that we were able to finish the match hitting over .300 on the road," Walton said. "Because we had such consistent offense, that's probably why we won the match."
The Cardinals will travel to Connecticut Jan. 21 for a match against Sacred Heart University (0-3) at 7 p.m.
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