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Men's Volleyball Falls to Ball State, 3-0, In Consolation Match
Volleyball Hall of Fame/Morgan ClassicBlake Arena, Springfield College
Consolation
Ball State 3, Springfield 0 - Boxscore
Championship
Penn State 3, BYU 2 - Boxscore
View First-Round Results
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 5, 2005 – Ball State junior Evan Berg registered 46 assists and eight digs to earn all-tournament team honors as the Cardinals defeated Springfield College, 3-0, in the consolation match of the 2005 Volleyball Hall of Fame-Morgan Classic tonight at Springfield College’s Blake Arena.
Junior Luis Castera had 16 kills and hit .321 for the Cardinals, who overcame the Pride with two-point victories in games one and three.
SC senior All-American Brandon Mueller led the Pride (1-6) with 16 kills. Senior Matt Smith, who had six kills and hit .556 tonight, was chosen to the all-tournament team.
Ball State (4-4) hit .432 behind seven kills from Castera to take a 31-29 win in the first game. The Pride, which trailed by as many as five points early on, tied the match at 24-24. The Cardinals took a 28-26 lead on an SC service error, but the Pride rallied to tie the game at 29-29 after two Cardinal service errors and a kill from Mueller. Junior Zoran Grabovac and sophomore Nick Meyer registered back-to-back kills, however, to give the win to Ball State.
In game two, the Cardinals hit .500, thanks in part to sophomore Mark Rumschik, who had four kills and hit .667, for a 30-21 triumph. Ball State jumped out to a 6-1 lead and did not allow the Pride to get closer than four the rest of the way.
The Pride, ranked third nationally in Division III, led most the way in the final game but a late Cardinal rally gave them a 32-30 win. Leading 17-16, SC reeled off three-straight points, capped by consecutive kills by Mueller, to take a 20-16 advantage. SC maintained a 28-26 lead after a kill by sophomore Robert Soris, but a kill by Meyer and a Pride attack error tied the game at 28-28. The Pride had a chance to close out the match after Smith and freshman Neil Starzynski blocked an attack by Meyer to give SC a 30-29 edge, but an SC service error opened the door for the Cardinals, who won it on Castera’s kill.
Championship: Penn State 3, Brigham Young 2
Penn State junior outside hitter Matt Proper earned most-valuable-player honors as the Nittany Lions climbed out of an 0-2 hole and defeated fourth-ranked Brigham Young, 3-2, (20-30, 23-30, 30-21, 30-25, 15-10) to win the 2005 Volleyball Hall of Fame-Morgan Classic.
Proper had a team-leading 18 kills to go along with seven digs as the Nittany Lions (7-2) won their seventh Volleyball Hall of Fame-Morgan Classic championship overall and second-straight title. Penn State beat Cal-Irvine, 3-2, last season after coming back from an 0-2 deficit. The victory also avenges a 3-2 loss to BYU on Jan. 6, 2005.
Penn State senior middle hitter Keith Kowal added 13 kills and junior middle hitter Nate Meerstein chipped in with 11 kills. Kowal and Meerstein earned all-tournament team honors.
For the Cougars (7-4), senior opposite Casey Patterson, who had 20 kills, and senior middle blocker Michael Burke, who totaled 11 kills, six digs and five blocks, were named to the all-tournament team.
In game one, the Cougars scored the first five points and hit .500 en route to a 30-20 victory. Patterson got BYU going with a kill, then served four-straight Cougar points. The Nittany Lions closed to within four (18-14) after an attack error by Patterson, but the Cougars scored five of the next six points with junior outside hitter Taylor Evans registering two kills in the run to take a commanding 23-15 advantage. Evans had four kills on four attempts in the game.
With game two knotted at 20-20, BYU scored 10 of the final 13 points for a 30-23 triumph in the second game. Junior Victor Batista had four of his game-high seven kills down the stretch.
Penn State rallied for a 30-21 victory in the third game behind a .522 team attack percentage and seven kills on eight attempts from sophomore opposite Alex Gutar, who had 16 kills in the match. The Nittany Lions closed the game with a 9-3 run, with Gutar recording two kills in the surge.
The Nittany Lions drew even with a 30-25 game-four win. Penn State, led by Proper’s nine kills, hit .500 to force a decisive fifth game.
In game five, the Nittany Lions broke open a 9-8 game with a 6-2 run to register a 15-10 victory. Meerstein had two-late kills, and junior setter Dan O’Dell assisted on four of the last six points and blocked a Batista attack for the final point.
Volleyball Hall of Fame-Morgan Classic (Blake Arena, Springfield College)
Friday, Feb. 4
BYU 3, Ball State 0 (30-22, 30-27, 30-22)
Penn State 3, Springfield College 0 (30-28, 30-12, 30-24)
Saturday, Feb. 5
Consolation, Ball State 3, Springfield College 0 (31-29, 30-21, 32-30)
Championship, Penn State 3, Brigham Young 2 (20-30, 23-30, 30-21, 30-25, 15-10)
All-Tournament team:
Matt Smith, Springfield
Evan Berg, Ball State
Casey Patterson, BYU
Michael Burke, BYU
Nate Meerstein, Penn State
Keith Kowal, Penn State
Most valuable player: Matt Proper, Penn State
Sportsmanship Award: Eduardo Stawinski, Springfield
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Head Coach Charlie Sullivan
With four national championships to his credit, Charlie Sullivan will enter his 12th season as head coach of the men's volleyball team in 2010. In 11 previous years at the helm, Sullivan owns an overall record of 153-124 for a .552 winning percentage. Read more.