Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Sophomore middle blocker Tanner Medina belted a career-high seven kills for host Barton College in a 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-13) non-conference loss to Ball State University on Saturday afternoon in Wilson Gymnasium.
The Cardinals (5-0) remained undefeated on the season and the Bulldogs (0-4) stayed winless.
Saturday's match marked the first time Barton men's volleyball has hosted a Division I institution in the programs first two seasons. The Bulldogs will next go on the road for the first time this season for a Conference Carolinas encounter with defending league champion Pfeiffer University (Misenheimer, N.C.) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
"It was a great step for our program to compete against Ball State, our first Division I opponent today," said Barton first year head coach Jeff Lennox. "They are a very good team and it shows us the type of play necessary to compete at the national level. Not only that, but it will continue to help with the growth of collegiate men's volleyball. This is one of the steps in the process for a young program, and it will only make us better."
Medina hit a staggering .778, blasting his seven spikes on nine attempts without an error. Sophomore outside hitter Zach McMalla added six kills while classmates Chandler Thomas and Jordan Robison each had four.
Robison added 14 assists and had the Bulldogs only block. Sophomore libero Nick Scalia made a team-high four digs.
Senior Jamion Hartley recorded five kills in both the first and seconds sets to help the Cardinals construct a 2-0 advantage. Hartley finished with a match-high 10 kills in two sets played. Ball State completed the sweep by hitting a staggering 70% in the third.
The victors hit .576 and never trailed in the match. A 3-3 tie in the second set and a 6-6 tie in the third set were the only times the score was knotted. BSU had 15 kills in each stanza.
Senior setter Dan Wichmann totaled 34 assists and sophomore David Ryan Vander Meer chipped in a match-high 11 digs. Urim Demirovski connected for nine kills and Marcin Niemczewski and Jon Clawson both registered six spikes.
The established Cardinal program finished with a 45-22 gain in kills, 28-12 surplus in digs, a 6-1 advantage is blocks and a 6-2 edge in service aces.
