In a weekend marred with upsets in men’s volleyball, including five top 15 teams losing, Ball State had hope going into its first match against a nationally-ranked opponent in No. 6 Ohio State.
To win a match against a top 15 team, a team needs to play its best and catch a few breaks.
Only one of those happened for Ball State in its 3-1 (26-28, 25-22, 19-25, 23-25) loss to Ohio State.
Leading the fourth set 17-12, the match seemed destined to go a final fifth set, but Ohio State chipped away and suddenly it was 23-22.
In the next series, a questionable call that gave Ohio State its tying point, triggered an outburst from the Ball State coaching staff. The explosion from the bench triggered referee Tom Joseph to reprimand Ball State with a yellow card, and thus presenting Ohio State a point and putting the No. 6 team at match point.
“Our assistants were a little too passionate, and the up-official took offense to it,” coach Joel Walton said. “So much offense that he thought it was worth giving [Ohio State] match point.”
Thereafter, a short rally ended with an attacking error by senior outside attack Greg Herceg, giving Ohio State the win and leaving Ball State with a bitter taste in its mouth.
Right after the match, Walton passed on his usual post-game interview with WCRD, and even an hour after the match did not have much to say about the call.
Other than the third set, Ball State led late in each set and seemed much more confident and precise than in its previous two matches, both of which it had dropped.
Walton said the match was closer than the final scores depict.
“If a couple points go differently in sets one and four, we’re walking out of here with a 3-1 win,” he said.
Ball State went into the match wanting to serve Ohio State tough and keep the Buckeyes out of system as much as possible, and the position its back row in places to dig sophomore Andrew Lutz’s trademark cross-court spikes.
Another key in the performance was the emergence of a cohesive team performance, with not just one player shouldering the offensive load.
Herceg led the way with a match-high 18 kills, but others stepped-up to help the big lefty. Sophomore outsiders Shane Witmer and Matt Sutherland again complemented Herceg from the other side, logging 10 and nine kills, respectively. Junior middle attacker Kevin Owens chipped in nine kills of his own.
Replacing normal setter senior Dan Wichmann, junior Graham McIlvaine registered his second double-double of the season with 45 assists and a career-high 13 digs.
Reeling and searching for answers, the match against Ohio State was a defining moment for Ball State. Even in a loss Walton was able to find some silver linings.
“I’m not ever going to say I’m pleased with a loss, but I thought we did some really good things,” Walton said.
Volleyballhighlights from Ball State Student Media on Vimeo.
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