Outside attacker Patrick Rogers following the postmatch handshakes looked towards the crowd and let out a visceral scream.
The scream would have been heard throughout the Riverview Health Arena if not for the crowd of 1,252 people that was also screaming and cheering at a high-pitched decibel.
The pouring out of emotion was evident throughout the arena given what Rogers had just done from the service line in the NCAA Tournament regional finals.
Rogers delivered back-to-back aces in walk-off fashion of the fifth-game overtime as the No. 4 seed Ball State rallied to Pepperdine 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 16-14 on Saturday in Noblesville, Indiana.
Rogers’ aces capped off a 4-0 comeback that featured the Cardinals fighting off two match-point opportunities to force overtime. Pepperdine led 14-12 before committing a service error on its first match-point attempt and then having an attack error on an out-of-system ball following a serve for Rogers.
Rogers finished with a match-high four aces and added 15 kills en route to helping the Cardinals win their first non-consolation NCAA Tournament match since 1973.
Setter Lucas Machado guided the Ball State offense to out-hit Pepperdine .347 to .297.
The Cardinals had hit at least .500 in two of the five games and had three players finish with double-digit kills.
Opposite Ryan Louis finished with a team-high 16 kills on a .324 attack percentage. Middle attacker Will Patterson contributed 12 kills and zero errors on a team-best .667 attack percentage.
Patterson making his seventh match appearance during the last two months also had 11 blocks – the second-most blocks in a NCAA Tournament match during the 25-point rally scoring era.
Pepperdine opposite Cole Hartke in the loss finished with a match-high 23 kills. In addition, outside attacker Jose Gomez and Ryan Barnett each added 13 kills against the Cardinals.
Ball State erased multiple deficits in the decisive fifth game.
Along with the match-ending run, Ball State overcame the Waves having a 4-1 run to open the game. Ball State took a 11-7 lead with a 4-0 run that featured freshman Tyler Windt coming off the bench to serve, but Pepperdine responded scoring seven of the next eight points.
The Cardinals limited the Waves to a match-low .080 attack percentage in the final game.
Pepperdine jumped out an 8-3 run to open the fourth game and led by as many as eight points. The Waves did commit an attack error until let in the game and hit .484 en route to forcing a decisive fifth game.
Louis had an ace midway through the third game to cap off a 5-1 run and give Ball State the lead after trailing by as many as three points. The opposite also led all players with seven kills in the third-game victory, including back-to-back kills with the game tied at 22-22.
Both Pepperdine and Ball State hit .500 and committed a combined five attack errors in the second game.
Cole Hartke had back-to-back kills and Barnett had an ace as part of a 4-0 run to erase a 21-18 deficit. Hartke also had the game-winning block to prevent the game going into overtime and to even the match.
Ball State opened the match on a 7-3 run that featured three blocks from Patterson.
Pepperdine rallied to tie the game at 22-22, but Ball State responded with a kill from Rogers to retake the lead and then a block from Surrett and Machado. The Cardinals were able to close out the opening game on a Waves service error.
Ball State with this win will advance to the semifinals and play the winner of the quarterfinals match between the No. 1 seed UCLA and UC Irvine.
This is the first time Ball State has won a NCAA Tournament match since between Hawai’i in the now defunct third-place match in 1995. It is also the first time Ball State has defeated a West Coast team in a non-consolation NCAA Tournament match since beating UC Santa Barbara during the inaugural NCAA Tournament in 1970.
Pepperdine is the first West Coast team to lose to a non-West Coast team in the NCAA Tournament since 2019.