Men’s Volleyball Outlasts Ohio State in Five Sets

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ball State men’s volleyball team did not have its best showing of volleyball at Ohio State but managed to stay together as a team and get the job done. The Cardinals earned the five-set thriller over its long time Mid-Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association rival Ohio State Wednesday night in the Covelli Center.  

With the win, Ball State improves to 14-2 on the season and 6-1 in MIVA play while Ohio State drops to 9-10 overall and 3-4 in conference action 

Three players reached double digit kills against the Buckeyes with Angelos Mandilaris leading the Cardinals charge with 23. Not too far behind Mandilaris was Kaleb Jenness who turned in a 22-kill performance. Rounding out the double-digit kills was Vanis Buckholz with 11. Your offense doesn’t run well without their setter and tonight Quinn Isaacson was just as efficient at the net dishing out 62 assists running the offense at a .484 clip. 

Ball State took the first and third sets from Ohio State, but the Buckeyes hung on to take sets two and four sending the match into a fifth frame.  

The Cardinals found themselves trailing the Buckeyes in the fifth on a few occasions but a kill from Isaacson, Buckholz, and Jenness put Ball State back into a position to possibly earn the defeat over Ohio State. After multiple ties, back-to-back Ohio State hitting errors gave the Cardinals the two points needed to win the match, 17-15.  

The Ball State men’s volleyball team continues Mid-Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action on Saturday against its rival Ohio State at 7 pm ET in Worthen Arena.