Down 24-22 in the third set, Ball State was on the verge of falling behind 2-1 to the visiting Loyola Ramblers. A kill and a block by sophomore middle attacker Matt Leske evened the score at 24 all.
After trading points, the momentum seemed to be going the Cardinals' way after a triple block at the net gave them set point at 26-25. But a pair of errors by Ball State and a kill by Loyola's Joseph Smalzer all but ended the chances of a comeback by the Cardinals.
Throughout its entire home matchup Thursday, Ball State endured several of these instances. As a result, the Cardinals lost a close 3-1 (25-18, 16-25, 29-27, 25-23) battle to its 13th ranked foe and opened Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play with a 0-1 record.
"We just need to continue the momentum we get," junior outside hitter Larry Wrather said. "We had momentum and we let it drop. We've just got to continue it."
In the second set, junior outside hitter Greg Herceg gave the Cardinals plenty of momentum. After coming in to replace junior outside hitter Jamion Hartley, he served the final seven points of the match, resulting in the 25-16 win.
"In game two, [Herceg] pretty much served us the game," Ball State coach Joel Walton said. "He took us from 20-16 to 25-16 in game two. So in game three, we actually kept our rotation so that Herceg was going to be our first server."
Herceg continued to have the hot hand in game three, blasting six kills on eight attempts. Ten costly errors by the Cardinals, however, negated any momentum Herceg gave them.
"We knew we could take the game and we had them," Wrather said. "We just didn't capitalize. After that loss, it was real heartbreaking knowing we had the game. But we know when we go see them again that we will win it and we can take it from them."
In the final set of the match, Ball State did its best to take a game away from Loyola. Down 18-13, Walton called timeout to regroup his team. Afterwards the Cardinals scored 10 of the next 16 points to pull within one of the Ramblers. Loyola's Eric Daliege, however, smashed a kill to end the set at 25-23 and the hopes of an upset.
"It's hard to take a lot of positives out of this match," Leske said. "But we showed we can compete with these teams. This was one of the best teams in the MIVA. I mean, I guess everybody is sleeping on us. But we know the type of team we are and we know we can compete every night. We've just got to finish."
Despite the disappointing loss, Ball State received good production from its attackers. Wrather finished with a team-high 11 kills, while Leske followed close behind with nine. Herceg added seven kills off the bench, while Witmer had six kills, four block assists and a solo block.
Looking forward, Walton said No. 6 ranked Lewis, Ball State's opponent on Sunday, is a much different team than Loyola.
"They've got two very good left sides, a right side that's good and middles that get up and are quick," he said. "I honestly think they have the best setter in our conference this year. So they're hitting it at a very good offensive number.
"Again, if we're going to limit their offense, we've got to start it with our serve, our block and our back row defense in a better position. And on our side of the net, we've got to be able to handle their serve and run an offensive attack that's potent enough to keep us in games."
First serve in the Lewis match will be at 1 p.m.
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