Through the first few games of conference play, Ball State was able to have the privilege of playing in front of a home crowd. The setting changed for the Cardinals this weekend, as they embarked on a Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) road trip.
Thursday evening, they took on a team searching for its first conference win, the Lindenwood Lions. Ball State spoiled the Lions’ hope, taking them down in three sets (25-15, 25-17, 25-22). The Cardinals then traveled to Illinois, where they took on No. 17 McKendree University. Ball State fell in the match 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 10-15).
Lindenwood
In their first conference road matchup of the year, the Cardinals came out firing. In the first set, they held Lindenwood to an eye-catching -.040 hit percentage. Although the Lions kept it close, only trailing 15-12 at one point in the set, the Cardinals were able to score four consecutive points thanks to a pair of blocks from senior middle blocker Vanis Buckholz. From that point on, Ball State rode that momentum and took the first set.
Once Ball State gained momentum, they carried it over to the rest of the match. Junior outside hitter Patrick Rogers spoke on how that momentum affected the team.
“We were playing really well and everything was clean,” Rogers said. “We were playing super disciplined which is important.”
In set two, the Cardinals nearly replicated their set one performance. Lindenwood was able to keep it close the entire first part of the set, even taking a 12-11 lead at one point. But the tides turned when the freshman duo of Wil Basilio and Ryan Louis got a pair of kills to give the Cardinals a cushion. After that, the Cardinals extended that cushion for a set two victory.
Going into set three, Ball State had all the momentum and was looking to close out a victorious start to the road trip. But Lindenwood did not give in. When the Cardinals went up 4-1, the Lions responded with four straight points, and when the Cardinals went on any kind of run, they responded once again. Two late set kills by Rogers proved to be the dagger in set three as Ball State closed out the sweep.
Ball State head coach Donan Cruz was satisfied with his team’s sweep in their first conference road game of the season.
“It felt good to execute the game plan,” Cruz said. “We had some guys step into some pretty significant roles of starters, so I thought overall we did really well.”
McKendree
The last time Ball State had to face a ranked team on the road, it was halfway across the country in California when they faced Stanford. This time, the team traveled within the midwest to face a top 20 McKendree squad. The Cardinals were without star senior leaders Raje Alleyne and Tinaishe Ndavazocheva due to injuries, so it was an uphill battle from the beginning.
The first set began where the last game left off for the Cardinals. Ball State started the game in control, taking a 5-1 lead thanks to a pair of scores from freshman Ryan Louis. That did not last long though, as the McKendree Bearcats battled back to keep it competitive.
Through the rest of the set, the Bearcats gave the Cardinals little to no breathing room. When the set was tied 20-20, McKendree strung together multiple points to take a commanding 24-21 lead. Despite a late surge from the Cardinals, the Bearcats were able to close out the first set with a win.
“We allowed some attacking errors to kill our momentum,” Cruz said. “When you’re on the road, you’ve got your back against the wall and it can be anyone’s game.”
In set two, Ball State fought back. It was neck-and-neck for the entire set. But unlike set one, they were the ones to come back and win it. Down 23-21 late in the set, the Cardinals strung together four consecutive points to even the score.
Sets three and four were both back-and-forth contests as McKendree took the third set and Ball State took the fourth. The game was headed to a fifth set, as expected from a top twenty conference matchup. This game was completely different from Ball State’s dominant sweep over Lindenwood on Thursday as every set was close.
“We had three freshmen on the court and an inexperienced setter and they played great under pressure,” Rogers said. “With Raje [Alleyne] and [Ndavazocheva] being injured, they stepped in and played the role really well. We are a really deep team.”
As the game headed into a fifth set, McKendree took advantage of Ball State’s injuries. They got up 8-3 early in the set, and eventually went on to win the fifth set, taking their third straight ranked match.
“I’m really excited about how our team competed," Cruz said. “I’m proud of how the guys responded to the opportunity and we tried to give it everything we had.”
Despite the loss, Rogers’ mindset is focused on how the team will get better for next week’s matchups.
“I always say it, but we have to focus on practice,” Rogers said. “Practice translates over to the game so much, so we need to have a good week of practice.”
Ball State will take on Ohio State Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
Contact Kyle Stout with questions via email @kyle.stout@bsu.edu or via X @kylestoutdailyn.
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