The Ball State University men's volleyball team lived dangerously in its two matches this weekend, but set itself up nicely for a big showdown against Ohio State University next weekend.
On Friday, the Cardinals (10-6, 4-1 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) rallied from a 2-1 deficit against Quincy University, winning game four 30-27 and game five 15-8 (30-28, 26-30, 27-30, 30-27, 15-8).
In Saturday's match against Carthage College, Ball State took the first two games, lost the third and escaped Kenosha, Wis. with a 33-31 game four win (30-25, 30-25, 25-30, 33-31).
"I told the guys after our second match, 'A win is a win,'" coach Joel Walton said. "Nothing else matters at the end of the day."
In Friday's match, Quincy grabbed a 2-1 lead thanks to the play of Peter Coley, John Markendorf, Ed Ryan and Robbie Mendenhall, who combined for 52 kills.
In game four, Todd Chamberlain broke a 16-16 tie with one of his 17 kills on the night, a lead Ball State did not give up. With the game and match on the line, the Cardinals turned to senior Nick Meyer. Meyer finished off a 4-1 Ball State run with a kill to give the Cardinals a 7-4 lead in game five. After the Hawks closed to 9-8, Ball State finished off the match with six straight points, highlighted by two Meyer kills and a match-winning ace from the senior.
"We just had to go through and just be confident in ourselves and know that we could do it," Meyer said. "As soon as we got the lead we couldn't let them get back into it and keep the pressure on. I was ready to carry the team and do whatever I could to win that match."
Meyer finished the match with a match-high 24 kills. He also recorded 10 digs, giving him his third double-double of the season. Also, freshman setter Jeff Schmitz set a career high with 61 assists.
Against Carthage, Chamberlain led the way with 16 kills. Meyer had 15 kills, Matt McCarthy recorded 13 and Mark Rumschik added 12 kills. McCarthy also finished the match with a match-best .619 attack percentage.
"Those guys are all pretty important part of our team right now," Walton said. "Matt is doing a really good job in the middle and had good blocks in both matches."
After Carthage took game three, the Cardinals jumped out to a 17-10 lead in game four. However, Carthage stormed back with an 11-3 run to take a 21-20 lead. From there it went back-and-forth leaving the two teams tied at 31. Meyer and Rumschik ended the game with back-to-back kills.
After spending the week focusing on the offense, Walton said the offense isn't where it needs to be when the Cardinals play Ohio State this coming weekend.
"I thought our offense was pretty awful against Quincy and some sets that [Schmitz] made early I thought we should've put away but we made errors," Walton said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but I think our passing overall has been good. We've got to work on our plays and become more precise with them and make sure our hitters are hitting a good variety of shots."
Meyer said it's comforting to know the Cardinals can win close matches.
"We know we can do it," Meyer said. "We can play in tight matches. I was glad to see we could pull through and do it once again."
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