It was a weekend of ups and downs for the men's volleyball team.
After beating No. 12 Loyola-Chicago in straight sets Friday, the Ball State struggled on Saturday to beat the second-to-last team in its conference, Findlay.
Heading into Friday's match, the Cardinals (15-7, 9-4) were three games behind Loyola (14-7, 11-3) for second place in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, needing a win to keep hope alive of passing the Ramblers before the league tournament.
After losing to Penn State March 23, head coach Joel Walton wanted the Cardinals to come out focused and ready to play. He said they did just that in their 30-28, 30-27, 30-28 win.
"I was glad to see our team came out with a lot better energy (than it did against Penn State)," Walton said.
That energy, Walton said, made the team attack aggressively, one of the keys to the win.
"I was pleased to see our guys be more aggressive," Walton said. "We were aggressive in some of the longer rallies or at critical stages in the match."
Senior outside attacker Josh Zuidema led the Cardinals in kills with 17 and hit .538 in the match.
The 12 digs apiece for senior outside attacker Josh Lee and junior setter Keith Schunzel were also an important factor in the match, Walton said.
Ball State used the momentum from the Loyola match to get out to a fast start Saturday at Findlay.
The Cardinals won the first game 30-25, but fell behind quickly in the second. They couldn't overcome an 11-4 deficit, as the Oilers took the game 30-21.
Ball State won the third game 30-23, then struggled again in the fourth. The team trailed most the match, down 21-17 at one point.
After fighting back, the Cardinals didn't take the lead until 28-27 and won the game 30-28.
Lee had 19 kills to lead the team. Senior middle attacker Matt Denmark added 16 kills while hitting .700 against the Oilers.
One of the team's biggest problems against Findlay was its serving, especially in game two. The Cards had one ace against 17 service errors in what Walton called their worst serving performance of the season.
Despite the difficulties, Walton said the team's 2-0 weekend will help the Cardinals continue to climb the conference standings.
"(The wins) give us a chance to work our way up the standings as far as being a higher seed in the (MIVA) tournament," he said.
The Cardinals are now a game and a half behind Loyola for second place with three conference matches left. They must try to play catch up on the road, as all three contest are away games.
"First place is out of reach for us," Walton said, "but second or third means you've got a lot easier rounds in the quarterfinals of our conference tournament."
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