Ohio State Buckeyes victorious over the Ball State Cardinals 3-0
The Worthen Arena saw an interesting match take place between Ohio State and Ball State men’s volleyball team on Friday evening. In the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match, Ohio State overpowered Ball State by making a clean sweep through
final set scores of 25-16, 25-21, 28-26.
The first set of the match started off in a tug of war, with a tie being reached at 6-6. But Ohio State effectively pushed forwards by making a 7-2 run that gave the Buckeyes a substantial lead. All that Ball State could manage after that was to come as
close as four points to their rivals, but the Buckeyes did not feel threatened and went on to win the set 25-16.
The beginning of the second set was much the same as that of the first, with the match being closely contested by both the teams at 12-11. However, Ohio State managed to gain dominance of the second set by moving ahead the next three points. The Buckeyes
went on to win the set at 25-21.
Responding to increased pressure, the Cardinals took the lead at 16-10. However, they were not able to keep control of the game as the Buckeyes charged in and tied the match at 22-22. Ball State failed to pull itself together and Ohio State sealed the deal
at 28-26.
After suffering such an embarrassing defeat, Larry Wrather, the sophomore outside attacker of the Cardinals took it upon himself to keep the morale of his team high. Wrather did so by posting the highest number of kills for the Cardinals at 11 and also contributed
by making seven digs in the last two sets of the game. At the end of the match, Wrather’s hitting percentage was the highest amongst the Cardinals at .350.
Joel Walton, the head coach for the Buckeyes commented on his team’s performance at the end of the match and said, “After a tough two sets to begin the night, we put ourselves in position to win set three. For this team to mature and get to a point where
we are going to win matches at the end of the year, when we get a lead like that we have to finish the game off."
The recent loss has dropped the Cardinals down to 6-5 in their overall season ratings. They have just made one win in the MIVA at the expense of two losses. In contrast to this, Ohio State has an impressive record in both the overall season as well as the
MIVA. In this season so far, the Buckeyes have secured 10 wins, losing only two of their played matches. In MIVA, Ohio State has managed to pull off four wins without a single defeat.
Ball State will face Loyola tonight, for a chance to regain some confidence and get back to their winning ways.
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