Historical Season Continues For Quincy, Defeating No. 15 Ball State, 3-1
The historical season for the Quincy University men's volleyball
team continued on Saturday with a 3-1 win on the road over #15
ranked Ball State University in the first-round of the 2011
Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament. The
win marked the Hawks first ever win in the MIVA Tournament and just
their second win ever at #3 seeded Ball State University.
Quincy, the #6 seed in the tournament, was 0-15 in their
previous tournament appearances but shocked the home Cardinals with
an impressive 17-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 26-24 come from behind win.
The Hawks also entered the match with just one win and 22 losses at
Muncie.
The Hawks got off to a slow start, hitting just .120 as a team in
the opening set but quickly recovered and were near dominant in the
final three sets. The Hawks hit a match high .357 in the second set
with 14 kills and just four errors as they evened the match up.
Quincy took the lead by winning the third set although they hit
just .138 as a team with 12 kills and eight errors. Quincy's
defense was able to overcome the offensive woes in the set as they
finished with 13.5 total team blocks in the match.
The Hawks jumped out to a 17-11 lead in the fourth set and had to
hold off several runs by the Cardinals. Ball State tied the score
up at 21-21 but Quincy responded by scoring the next three points
including two from Steven
Battaglia. Ball State responded with what could have been
a knockout punch by tying the score up again at 24-24 and denying
the Hawks three straight match points.
The Hawks did not waver though and Joseph Sokol gave his team the
lead back with a kill. Ryan
Lehmann then powered through a Ball State block for the
game and match winning point. Quincy finished with 51 kills and hit
.208 as a team while Ball State hit .229 as a team with 52
kills.
Joseph Sokol led the Hawks attack with 14 kills while Steven
Battaglia added 11 kills and Ryan
Lehmann finished with 10 kills. Andrew
Ouano added 42 assists and Tanner
Wright finished with 13 digs.
Quincy improves to 22-13 on the season, extending their school
record for wins in a season. They return to action on Wednesday in
the MIVA semi-finals where they will play at #2 Loyola-Chicago.
