Ball State was unable to win a second consecutive Mid-American Conference game Sunday. After upsetting Buffalo on Thursday, the Ball State men’s basketball team lost to Western Michigan 62-53.
In the days leading up to Ball State’s match against McKendree, head coach Joel Walton said that McKendree “wouldn’t be the toughest team we face this season.” Nobody would have expected them to be—not a program that was just formed and was playing its first volleyball match in history. Ball State swept McKendree (25-13), (25-15), (25-13) in a match where some of Ball State’s backups saw more time than the starters. Connor Gross and Alex Pia played throughout the third set, showing flashes of both talent and youth, much like their opponents across the net did. “Alex played well, he had some good swings, hit an overpass pretty well,” Walton said, grinning.
Ball State head coach James Whitford described it as “big.“ He could’ve been talking about his preseason All-Mid-American Conference center, Majok Majok. Or Buffalo’s possible MAC Player of the Year, forward Javon McCrea.
Ball State captures its first conference win, defeating Buffalo 71-68 David K. Jones Ball State’s upset of Buffalo Thursday night sent a crowd of 3,072 home happy.
Ball State has found its young anchor four matches into the season, but the offense will collapse unless veterans step up to balance the attack.
Energy crackles through Worthen Arena seconds before the start of every men’s volleyball match. Hiago Garchet feels the liveliness.
After 14 consecutive wins in the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes, senior Bridgette Ruehl was asked to change things up.
Four games in, the Ball State men’s basketball team is still looking for its first conference win, this time against Buffalo. The Bulls are a team well-known for stretching out defenses and shooting the ball without much hesitation, things Ball State struggled with in its previous loss to Miami. “We got done with the Miami game and watched the game as a team on Sunday,” head coach James Whitford said.
It’s all about progress for head coach Joanna Saleem. Final scores have been underwhelming through three meets this season, but the Ball State gymnastics team is just getting started.
The Ball State football team announced today that John Strollo will be its new offensive line coach.
Saturday’s 52-64 loss to Miami highlighted a key flaw in the Ball State men’s basketball team: a lack of shooting. As a team, Ball State shot 33.3 percent from the field against Miami, down from its 40.5 percent season average. “We are just going to have to get back in the gym and shoot,” freshman point guard Zavier Turner said.
Losing the top two offensive threats for any team can instantly create problems. It’s no different for the Ball State men’s volleyball team after graduating Greg Herceg and Jamion Hartley, the two top offensive players last season. Head coach Joel Walton’s team is experiencing an adjustment period on offense, unsure of which players should get the most opportunities to attack. The starting lineup constantly changes, and Walton said he expects it to continue to change until the offense starts producing better. “We’re trying to find a group that can produce offense, play good defense [and] work together well on the court,” Walton said.
Final Score: Ball State – 79 Ohio – 63 *Ball State improved to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the Mid-American Conference. *Ball State had its best shooting performance of the season. *Ohio never led in the game. The Ball State women’s basketball team shot 58.7 percent from the floor in a win over Ohio Saturday. Nathalie Fontaine led the team with 20 points, shooting 8-for-11.
Before Saturday’s game against Miami, Ball State freshman point guard Zavier Turner was honored with the 2012-13 Mini Mr. Basketball award by Hoosier Basketball Magazine.
Ball State freshman guard Zavier Turner rubbed his temples as he walked to the bench during a timeout after his team committed its 13th turnover late in the first half. It summed up the game for the Cardinals as they lost 64-52 to the Miami RedHawks (6-9, 2-2 Mid-American Conference). Turner, the 5-foot-9 Pike High School graduate, paced his team with a game-high 24 points.
It was a focus coming in to Wednesday’s game. As the Ball State women’s basketball team prepared to host Bowling Green, it knew that speed would be key in the game.
Coming off a trip to IUPUI, the Ball State women’s swimming and diving team will look to keep momentum as the team faces off against Eastern Illinois on Saturday. The Cardinals were able to swim to a 176-120 victory over IUPUI as well as a 219-72 win against the Xavier.
After taking steps forward, Ball State seemed to take a step backward Wednesday night. The Ball State men’s basketball team fell 51-71 on the road against Ohio. Many of its offensive possessions in the first half were spent trying to beat the 35-second shot clock.
A volleyball cut through the air, barely rotating as it tipped the top of the net and fell backward. Senior Larry Wrather frowned and shook his head, unhappy with the result. “One more,” he said quietly to his teammate next to him toward the end of Tuesday morning’s practice.
Ball State fell to 7-8 on the season and 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference in a loss to BowlingGreen, which improved to 14-2 and 4-0 in the MAC.
