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A record performance was not enough for Purdue Fort Wayne to beat its in-state rival.
Opposite Jon Diedrich set a school record during the 25-point rally scoring era with 37 kills as Purdue Fort Wayne lost to No. 12/10 Ball State 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-29, 15-11 on Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Along with this being a program record in the 25-point era, this was the second-most kills in a match for a Purdue Fort Wayne player during the entire rally scoring era. Diedrich’s performance also was the most kills in a match from any player in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball since former CSUN opposite Arvis Greene had 40 kills in 2018.
Diedrich had a combined 21 kills in the third and fourth game, including two kills in the fourth-game overtime to help force a decisive fifth game. In addition, Diedrich had a team-high five kills in the final game, but Ball State was able to close out the match on a 6-2 run to win the conference match.
Diedrich did not commit an attack error in the final two games and finished the match with a .452 attack percentage. The 73 attack attempts from Diedrich was the most attempts in a single-match from any player in the nation this season and the most from any player in a MIVA match this decade.
Ball State in the victory out-hit Purdue Fort Wayne .338 to .288 highlighted with a match-best .625 attack percentage in the final game.
Outside attacker Tinaishe Ndavazocheva led Ball State with career-high 25 kills on a .364 attack percentage. Ndavazocheva in the final game had a game-high six kills and zero errors, including three kills during the 6-2 match-ending run.
Ball State outside attacker Ryan Bartz also had 14 kills and hit .414 in front of a road crowd of 909 people.
Bartz was inserted into the starting lineup after starting outside attacker Patrick Rogers suffered an injury in Ball State’s three-game loss to No. 10 Ohio State on Thursday.
Ball State with this victory expands its first-place lead in the MIVA to one-and-half matches ahead of second-pace No. 11 Loyola. The Cardinals can win at least a share of the MIVA regular season title if they win two of their four remaining conference matches.