MATCH STATS
- #12 Ball State def. #5 Ohio State, 3-2 (16-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-13)
- Ball State improves to 17-11, 10-4 MIVA; Ohio State falls to 20-5, 11-3 MIVA
- Muncie, Indiana
- Attendance: 2087
- Box score
MUNCIE, Ind. – #12 Ball State used a “reverse sweep”—winning the last three sets of a five-set match—to upset #5 Ohio State in Worthen Arena Saturday night on Senior Night for the Cardinals (16-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-13). The win solidifies the 3-seed in the upcoming MIVA tournament for BSU, while the loss for Ohio State forces them to share the regular season MIVA title with Loyola. Due to the total sets won tiebreaker with the Ramblers, however, Ohio State still retains the #1 seed in the MIVA tournament, which starts April 14. The win over the Buckeyes was also Ball State’s ninth-straight home victory.
The Cardinals were led by senior middle blocker Matt Walsh, who finished with a team-high 14 kills on .367 hitting. His 9 blocks on the night tied teammate Mitch Weiler for match-high honors. Weiler also added 9 digs to narrowly miss a double-double. Parker Swartz and Ben Chinnici both finished with 9 kills each. Swartz also dug 9 balls, while Chinnici scooped a team-high 11. Matt Szews tied the match-high in aces with 2. Setter Jake Romano distributed 39 assists to go along with his 9 digs, 4 blocks and 2 kills.
For the Buckeyes, the usual suspects did the damage. Jake Hanes led all attackers with 19 kills. Hanes also contributed 7 digs and 3 blocks. Nicolas Szerszen pounded 18 kills on the night. He also added 14 digs, a match-high-tying 2 aces and a block. Maxime Hervoir finished with 16 kills on .306 hitting. Hervoir also posted 8 digs and 3 blocks. Setter Sanil Thomas led the match in two categories; assists (49) and digs (18). He also led the OSU attack to a .263 clip. Libero Aaron Samarin finished with 13 digs. Blake Leeson led the defense at the net with 6 blocks while adding 7 kills on .385 hitting on the night.
The MIVA regular season is now complete. Starting Saturday, April 14, the MIVA quarterfinals begin. Defending MIVA and national champion Ohio State hosts 8-seed Quincy, who went winless in conference play this season. Ball State welcomes 6-seed McKendree to Worthen Arena on Saturday.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Ball State Athletics
MUNCIE, Ind.— It was an electric atmosphere inside Worthen Arena Saturday night as Ball State welcomed two-time defending national champions Ohio State. After losing the first two sets, the 12thranked Cardinals pulled off an exciting comeback to take down the conference leaders, 3-2.
Leading the Cardinals on his senior night was middle attacker Matt Walsh. Walsh tallied 14 kills for a .367 hitting percentage along with nine blocks and one service ace. Ben Chinnici, Mitch Weiler andParker Swartz each knocked down nine kills in the five set match. Chinnici also led the team in digs with 11. Matt Szews had one kills with two added by Jake Romano and one from Anthony Lebryk. Romano had 39 of the team’s 43 assists. The Cardinals finished the evening with 50 kills, 59 digs, 13.5 total team blocks and three aces.
The Cardinals struggled in the opening set only knocking down nine kills for a .077 hitting percentage. Meanwhile Ohio State had 17 kills for an impressive .600 hitting percentage. Leading Ball State in the first set was Chinnici with three kills. Weiler and Walsh were each able to tally two kills apiece. The team had eight assists, six digs and three block assists in set number one.
Ball State came out hot in the second set scoring the first three points with two kills and a Buckeye attack error. The Cardinals went up 5-1 before forcing Ohio State to use their first timeout. However, the Buckeyes were able to rally back and tie the set at 7. The set saw 13 tied scores and seven lead changes before Ohio State came out victories, 25-22, on a Buckeye block assist. Walsh led the way in kills with four with three added by Swartz and Chinnici. Swartz led the team in digs with six. The team finished the set with 3.5 total team blocks and Romano 10 assists.
After struggling in the first two sets, the 10 minute intermission could not have come at better time for Ball State. The Cardinals came back out and kept the match alive with a 25-22 set three victory. Walsh had five of the team’s 15 kills for a .625 hitting percentage. Szews added four kills while Swartz had two. Szews led the set in digs with 4.
Ball State struck again with a set four win, never trailing in the set. The Cardinals won, 25-17, on a Walsh service ace to force the deciding fifth set. Ball State had eight kills on six assists along with two aces, 12 digs and 5 total team blocks.
The fifth and final set was a battle down to the very last serve with nine tied scores and five lead changes. The Cardinals took the set and the match on a Walsh dagger of a kill, his only kill of the set. Weiler had a team-high three kills with one apiece added by Chinnici, Szews and Swartz.
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
MUNCIE, ind. – The No. 7 Ohio State University men’s volleyball team (20-5, 11-3 MIVA) had to settle for a share of the 2018 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular season title after dropping a five-setter at No. 12 Ball State (17-11, 10-4 MIVA). The Cardinals’ win not only secured them the MIVA Tournament’s No. 3 seed but also handed No. 8 Loyola Chicago (21-6, 11-3 MIVA) a co-conference championship. The Buckeyes maintain rights to the postseason event’s top seed, however, by way of a ‘total sets won’ tiebreaker with the Ramblers.
It was a tale of two stories inside Worthern Arena with Ohio State dominating the first frame before squeezing out a 25-22 second stanza. Ball State then quickly flipped the script with a 25-22 winner of their own in the third and a 25-17 fourth-set equalizer. Set 5 went the distance, ultimately washing out as a 15-13 triumph for the host Cardinals.
The Buckeyes out-attacked Ball State .263-.179 but shot themselves in the foot with 24 service errors.
Sanil Thomas racked up 18 digs to go along with 49 assists while Nicolas Szerszen and Aaron Samarin also reached double-digit digs with 14 and 13, respectively.
SET 1: The Buckeyes came out blazing hot, hitting at a .600 clip on 17 kills in the opener. Jake Hanes and Maxime Hervoir paired up for 10 kills on 14 error-free attempts and the Buckeyes blew past Ball State 25-16. Ohio State never trailed in the set.
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SET 2: Power reigned supreme in the second as the two squads totaled 30 kills despite a half dozen blocks limiting the heavy damage. Thomas set up 15 assists with Hervoir surfacing as the main beneficiary terminating six balls. Ohio State trailed 6-1 out of the gates, needing to counter punch to pull even at 7-all. The Buckeyes found themselves behind late in the frame, too, facing a 22-20 deficit. Back-to-back BSU errors opened the door though, and Ohio State fired off five straight for the 25-22 victory.
SET 3: Serving issues started to fester in the third, suppressing Szerszen’s seven-kill effort with five serving gaffes. Knotted 18-18, Ball State went on a 5-0 run to go ahead 23-18. The Cardinals would close it out moments later, winners by a final tally of 25-22.
SET 4: Eight Buckeye serves were off the mark in the fourth, starting a negative snowball effect in the 25-17 match-tying set for Ball State.
SET 5: Action was heated in the fifth, tied as late as 12-12. Consecutive OSU errors were followed by a match-extending Szerszen kill. The clutch bouncer was voided on the next rally though when Matt Walsh‘s kill put an end to it 15-13.
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