MUNCIE, Ind. — The Tusculum men’s volleyball team went toe-to-toe with No. 10 Ball State on Thursday (Feb. 26) night before falling in four sets.
The Pioneers (7-4) competed with the Cardinals (14-2), tallying scores of 25-20, 26-28, 17-25, 25-27.
Ryan Louis landed 19 kills on a .621 hitting percentage to power Ball State to victory. Griffin Satterfield dished out 44 assists, while all three service aces came from different Cardinals: Nicholas Everett, Dante Cayaban, and Satterfield. Adir Ben Shloosh notched a team-best seven digs, while Daniel Gunther was credited with five total blocks.
For Tusculum, Reef Mathis registered a team-best 13 kills on a .346 clip. Adam Svendsen also reached double figures with 10 kills. Rounding out the scoring were Aiden Roper (8), Morgan Makovec (6), Caleb Hammann (1), and Riley Wisniakowski (1). The latter distributed 33 assists, with Roper, Makovec, and Wisniakowski landed the aces. Defensively, both Mathis and Ty Keeble finished with four digs, as Wisniakowski was credited with three block assists.
Ball State hit .321 as a team with 58 kills and 22 errors on 112 total attempts. Tusculum hit .299 with 39 kills, 13 errors, and 87 total attacks. The Cardinals led the Pioneers in assists (51-36), digs (29-20), and total blocks (7-4). The teams tied with three service aces each.
Tusculum hosts Lincoln Memorial, who received votes in this week’s national poll, on Tuesday (Mar. 3) in an IVA showdown.
