Click here for a photo gallery about the match from the Daily News photo blog.
As Ball State stood one point away from victory over Quincy in overtime of set three, junior Larry Wrather took his position behind the service line with a volleyball in hand.
Six days ago, Ball State had furiously fought with Lewis in a record-breaking overtime set only to come up short by a score of 44-42.
As Wrather tossed the ball high into the air, a powerful swing at the height of his jump immediately dashed any thoughts of another prolonged period.
The serve sailed over the net and landed for an ace, securing a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 28-26) sweep for Ball State (7-4, 1-2).
"It's actually a great feeling to have, ending the game like that, but to know our team played that well tonight, that showed that we do have a lot of character on this team. It showed the potential we have," Wrather said.
His ace ended one of the most complete matches by the Cardinals this season, which came against a Quincy team that upset them in the quarterfinals of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament last season.
Ball State's dominating win on Saturday evened the score, Wrather said.
"I have a personal grudge against that team, so this is a great win for me to have," he said. "This year, we just came back and felt like we had something to prove against that team. I felt like that's what we showed tonight."
Coach Joel Walton said the players showed more respect for Quincy this time than in the conference tournament last season.
"Probably, we lost to Quincy out of, at least, partially a lack of respect for their team," Walton said. "Our guys came in tonight understanding what Quincy is about, respecting their players and we knew we were going to have to put in a solid effort to come away with a win."
Ball State's new fast-paced offense, which the team shifted to this week in practice, contributed to the team's commanding win in set one. Freshman outside attacker Shane Witmer hit six early kills in the frame and drove Ball State to a .500 team attack percentage.
Wrather said the faster offensive style is built on giving the outside attackers more options on their attacks and separating the opposing blockers at the net.
The perfect 2-0 week started with a 3-1 win over Lindenwood on Thursday. Witmer recorded 10 kills, nine digs, five block assists and two aces in an all-around performance that helped secure a win for Ball State.
Lindenwood's defeat also came with an increased speed in Ball State's offense, which Witmer said the team implemented "a little bit on Tuesday, and started it Wednesday." He said the short amount of time used to prepare led to an performance the team could build on.
"Looking at other teams and what we need to get better at, a lot of times we're out of system where we're throwing sky balls out to the pins where Lewis and Loyola were setting up triple blocks," Witmer said. "It's hard for our hitters to get a good picture, so we're working on a faster tempo. That takes timing in practice, but I thought we played pretty well doing that tonight without having really any practice."
With its first conference win now secured, Ball State continues MIVA play this week with a road match at Ohio State (9-4, 1-0) at 7 p.m. on Friday and a home match against IPFW (7-4, 1-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
For more coverage on men's volleyball, follow @andrewmishler on Twitter.
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