Ball State Team Stats
Kills - 54
Total attacks - 115
Attack errors - 23
Hit percentage - .270
Service aces - 4
Service errors - 16
The Ball State Men's Volleyball team earned its second straight victory Wednesday night, completing a five-set victory over the Princeton Tigers at Worthen Arena.
The No. 14 Cardinals came into the match with an 11-9 record, while the Tigers had an 8-6 record coming in.
Head volleyball coach Joel Walton used another different starting lineup for this match. Senior Shane Witmer and freshman Matt Walsh both sat out with injuries.
"I don't want to put a timetable on the injury, but I'm not done yet," Witmer said.
The first set of the match was a preview of what was to come, the Cardinals upending the Tigers 26-24 in thrilling fashion.
In the second set, Ball State dropped off, hitting .077 and losing 15-25 as Princeton evened the match 1-1.
The third and fourth sets both came down to the wire, each team splitting a victory. Ball State won set three 25-22 before falling 25-23 in the fourth set.
The fifth set required extra volleyball just as the first, and the Cardinals came away with a 20-18 set win and a 3-2 match win.
The final kill of the match came from sophomore outside attacker Mike Scannell.
Scannell finished with 13 kills, a .320 attack percentage, one ace, three digs and four block assists.
Fellow sophomore Alex Pia joined Witmer and Walsh on the bench as he left the match with a shoulder injury.
"Not having some of our key guys really shows the depth of this team," sophomore outside attacker Brendan Surane said. "We can put anyone out there and still have a good chance at winning."
Surane had 12 kills, two aces, three digs and six block assists, while junior Marcin Niemczewski finished with 16 kills, one ace, eight digs, one solo block and one block assist.
Statistically, the Cardinals were fairly outmatched in attack percentage (.270-.344) and kills (54-68), but they outdid the Tigers on defense. Ball State won the dig battle (37-33) and in blocks (12-8).
Despite the statistical differences, Surane said the Cardinals used determination to stay ahead in the match.
"We've had times where we were beating a team and let them back in," Surane said. "Today, we weren't going to let them back in the game at any cost. We got the win."
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