It took the Ball State University men's volleyball longer than they expected, but the team ended its two-match losing streak Saturday.
The Cardinals rallied from a two games deficit to beat St. Francis University 26-30, 26-30, 30-21, 30-26, 15-13.
"We came out sluggish and then we battled," middle attacker Matt McCarthy said. "We took care of business and finished a game we should have won."
In the first two games, Ball State had a .046 attack percentage. However, the third game the Cardinals had one attack error and finished the match with a .250 attack percentage.
McCarthy, who had 15 kills in the match, said a reason Ball State struggled at the start of the match was because of Friday's match, when the team lost in four games to No. 3 Penn State University.
"It wasn't like it was hyped match like playing Penn State," McCarthy said. "I think our focus lacked in the beginning."
After having five kills in the first two games, outside attacker Patrick Durbin finished with a match-high and career-high 26 kills.
Durbin said he got more kills in the later games because of a conversation he had with setter Ethan Pheister following the second game.
"I told him it's good to have the offense diverse and set it around to different people but when someone is on you have to go to them, and I was mainly taking about Matt McCarthy," Durbin said. "But I guess he took that as setting me and that's fine I don't mind because it turned out OK in the end."
Coach Joel Walton said the team played better against Penn State than against St. Francis. However, he said Ball State gained momentum from winning the final three games.
"The match looked pretty ugly in the first two games," Walton said. "To come out and win three straight games it shows me something about this team and I'm glad we have a bunch of fighters."
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