The men's volleyball team took what head coach Joel Walton called a step in the right direction Friday with a victory over IPFW in straight sets, 30-26, 30-25, 30-24.
The victory puts the Cardinals (10-4, 5-3) ahead of the Mastodons (6-5, 3-3) and into fourth place in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Ball State also beat their alumni in an exhibition match Saturday, three games to one.
Walton has stressed consistency to his team all season long. In practice the week before the IPFW match, he especially focused on playing well, with minimal errors, from start to finish.
Though he said his team started the match slowly, Walton said the Cardinals' consistency was much improved against the Mastodons.
"We had a sluggish start, but we really turned some things on late that allowed us to make a good run of points and finish off game one," Walton said.
Senior Josh Lee, who normally comes off the bench, started as outside attacker in the match in place of junior Jary Delgado. Lee led the team or tied for the lead in four categories. He had 13 kills, four service aces, eight defensive digs and one block.
"The thing that kept (Lee) from being a starter sooner was his inability to go in and pass consistently," Walton said. "He's getting to the point now that he is passing as well as the other guys on our team."
Delgado didn't start because Walton felt the Cardinals' other outside attacker, senior Josh Zuidema, was passing better. Ironically, Walton said, Zuidema passed poorly in the first game and was replaced by Delgado who had 12 kills, 8 digs and led the team with a .476 hitting percentage.
"Jary put up good numbers in just two and a half games," Walton said. "He passed great and got our offense running."
Ball State hit .346 for the match. One of the team's goals is to hit over .300 every match. Walton said while the offense is improving, there are still areas the Cardinals need to work on.
"Our offense is starting to hit at a better percentage, which is one of our focuses," Walton said. "There are still areas we can improve on. We had four reception errors, which is a lot."
Before the alumni game on Saturday, the team decided it would play at least four games, regardless of the score. The varsity team won the first three matches before losing the second.
Walton said he used players from the bench in the third and fourth game who hadn't gotten much playing time lately.
Senior outside attacker Kyle Weindel led the Cardinals with 15 points, including 14 kills. Paul Fasshauer, a 2002 graduate, led the alumni team with 21 points, including 18 kills and 2 blocks.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
