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There wasn’t any rust to the Ball State offense in the season opener.
Ball State hit .618 and committed two attack errors the entire match as it swept Wabash 25-9, 25-9, 25-11 on Tuesday in the nation’s first match of the college men’s volleyball season.
The Cardinals had more than .575 in all three games, including a match-best .667 attack percentage and no errors in the second game. Four Ball State players had at least five kills and no errors in front of a home crowd of 655 people.
Opposite Dyer Ball coming off the bench in the second game led Ball State with both eight kills on a .889 attack percentage. Outside attacker Nathan Goh also had eight kills and hit .800, while middle attacker Wil McPhillips added seven kills on a .636 attack percentage.
Goh and McPhillips each had a match-high two aces against the NCAA Division III school from Indiana. Ball State finished with 10 aces – nine more aces than Wabash.
Wabash in the loss hit .029 and was held to a negative attack percentage through the first two games.
Ricky Sessions in the loss led Wabash with six kills, while Bawi Bawi Thang added five kills.
Ball State and Wabash will conclude their two-match series on Wednesday morning. Both teams will also play Thomas More on Wednesday afternoon.
The Cardinals reached the MIVA Tournament finals last season and were picked this season to finish the conference in third place in the MIVA Preseason Coaches Poll.