MUNCIE, Ind. (April 10, 2010) - The Saint Francis men's volleyball team closed out their weekend jaunt in the state of Indiana on a sour note, dropping a 3-0 (33-35, 31-33, 25-30) decision to the #15 Ball State Cardinals on Saturday in Muncie.
The teams combined for two marathon sets, going for 68 and 64 combined points in the first and second sets, respectively. Despite the high scores, the teams zipped through the match quickly, finishing in just one hour and 39 minutes. The loss drops the Red Flash to 12-13 overall, while the Cardinals ascend to 17-9 overall.
Overall, the Red Flash could not keep up with the hot-hitting Cardinals, who bashed a combined .339 for the match, including a sparkling .441 in the decisive third set. In comparison, the Red Flash hit .223 overall, including just .138 in that same third set.
The Cardinals opened the first set on a service ace from Ethan Pheister, the spark to a 9-3 run that set the early tone for Ball State. The Red Flash battled back with an 8-3 run of their own, taking the momentum of an Eric Schulte service error to pull within 12-11 on a
Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) kill. After pulling even with the Cardinals at 21-21 on a
Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon) (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon)/Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) block, the Red Flash finally broke through to briefly take the lead on a
Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) kill. From there the teams would battle back and fourth, exchanging the lead three more times until well past the 30-point mark. After
Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) again evened the score at 33-33, J.D. Gasparovic and Lee Meyer each notched a kill to give the Cardinals the 35-33 win, and a huge momentum swing.
The Red Flash would begin the second set with a quick burst, leading 3-0 on a Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) kill, an Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa./Central York) ace, and a Varee/Freyer block. They would expand their lead to 6-1 , and would lead well into the halfway point of the set until Eric Schulte tied the score at 15-15 and forced a Rivett attack error to give the Cardinals the 16-15 lead. It would be another tight conclusion to the set, as the teams battled to get the final two-point advantage. The Flash thought they had the advantage when they made it 30-29 on two consecutive blocks - one from Freyer/Fortney and the other from Freyer/Alex Kane (York, Pa./West York) (York, Pa./West York) - but the Cardinals pushed the issue and scored the winning points on a Lee Meyer kill and a J.D. Gasparovic block.
Now well in control, the Cardinals hit .441 in the third set, wearing down the Red Flash early. Lee Meyer opened the proceedings with a block, and the Cardinals would never relinquish their lead in downing the Red Flash 30-25.
Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) led the Red Flash in kills with 11 despite not playing the third set. Freyer had nine kills to go along with six blocks. Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) had eight kills and four digs, and John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) led the way with seven digs.
PLAYOFF NOTE: The George Mason Patriots defeated the Juniata Eagles 3-1 on Saturday, meaning they will finish no worse than the 4-6 record shared by the Springfield Pride and the Red Flash. Their season concluded, Juniata finishes 3-7 and is out of playoff contention. The Red Flash hold a tiebreaker in the event of a three-way tie between the Pride and the Princeton Tigers by virtue of holding more wins; tomorrow's match between George Mason and Princeton will determine the relevant tiebreakers, if necessary. Should the Patriots win, they are guaranteed second place, and the Red Flash would ascend to third. Should the Patriots lose tomorrow, the match will be necessary to determine the tiebreakers.
