Twenty-four hours before starting a stretch where it will play nationally ranked teams, the Ball State University men's volleyball team beat a win less Mercyhurst College.
The Cardinals (7-4, 2-0 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) defeated Mercyhurst (0-10, 0-5 MIVA) in straight games, 30-21, 30-20, 31-29, Thursday.
"We did a good job," coach Joel Walton said. "We played two pretty good games and pulled it out in that third game."
Fourteen players saw time on the court for the Cardinals, which tied a season-high. The only player that didn't play Thursday was middle attacker Ryan Clarke.
In addition, it was the first time in the last four matches that outside attacker Nick Meyer didn't lead the Cardinals in kills. Meyer played in two games and had five kills.
Walton said he wanted to rest some of his starters before today's match against No. 15 Penn State.
"We really didn't play Nick all that much," Walton said. "Hopefully we're going to have some fresh body for Penn State, and we didn't wear ourselves out [Thursday]."
Middle attacker Justin Orr had a season-high eight kills and led Ball State in kills for the first match this season.
Entering Thursday's match, Orr had 11 kills in 12 games.
"Justin did a good job and it was good to see him playing relaxed," Walton said. "We want to see him really develop into a major role on this team."
Ball State had 10 service errors and had an .888 service percentage against Mercyhurst. This season the Cardinals have averaged 13.2 service errors per match.
In addition, Ball State had five aces Thursday. Prior to this match, the Cardinals had six aces in its last four matches.
"We had great serving, and it allowed us to build some big runs," Orr said. "We were able to get big leads and it was key that we didn't give away serves."
With this win, Ball State extended its winning streak to six matches and has swept its opponents in the last three.
Also, the Cardinals have won 18 of 19 games during this streak.
"It has definitely helped our confidence, and this is a team that needs to have confidence to play," Orr said. "I build on confidence, and the more we keep winning ,the more confidence we will get."
Ball State continues its Pennsylvania road trip with a match against Penn State.
Earlier this season the Nittany Lions defeated the Cardinals in straight games and are on a five match winning streak, including wins against No. 1 Brigham Young University and No. 8 Ohio State University.
"The last time we played Penn State was our second match, and we were still rough with our passing," Orr said. "The past three or four weeks we've been working on passing in practice and doing so many drills. [Passing] is going to be our best key to beating Penn State."
Starting today against Penn State, the Cardinals' next three matches will be against top 15 ranked opponents.
Ball State is 0-2 this season against Division I ranked opponents and lost two matches to No. 15 St. Francis University before they were ranked.
"We have some tough matches coming up against IPFW and Loyola [University], and a win over Penn will be a huge psychological advantage heading into these matches," Orr said.
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