Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Barton College sophomore Jonathan Novoa-Miralles had a match-high 10 kills, but NCAA Division I member Ball State University handed the Bulldogs a straight-set loss in their 2015 season-opener, 25-10, 25-22, 25-20.
Senior Matt Sutherland delivered nine kills without an error in 14 attempts for an impressive .692 hitting percentage in leading the Cardinals (2-0) to the victory.
Ball State rolled through the opening set, hitting .636 on 16 kills and just two errors. Barton, meanwhile, had just two kills in the entire frame and hit a negative .227. Junior Marcin Niemczewski produced five kills and Sutherland added four for the Cardinals in the set, both without an error.
Eight attack errors in the first half of the second frame by the Bulldogs helped Ball State open up a 14-7 lead. However, a kill by senior Tanner Medina gave Barton possession at 15-11, and the Royal Blue and White rolled off four straight points, three of them coming on consecutive aces by BC sophomore Chad Stanback Jr.
The run pulled Barton within one at 15-14, and the Bulldogs still trailed by that one-point margin at 19-18 when a service error by BC, a service ace by Ball State's Julian Welsh-White and an attack error by Barton increased the Cardinals' lead to four. Barton closed to within two at 24-22 on Stanback's fourth ace of the set, but he followed with a service error to give BSU the set win.
Novoa-Miralles and junior transfer Pierre Tang-Taye each had four kills in the set for Barton, which hit .133 as a team. Sutherland and freshman Nate Wolf each had three kills for the Cardinals, which hit .273 in the second frame.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of any set at 2-1 in the third frame on an ace by Novoa-Miralles, and held a two-point cushion as late as 6-4 following a block by Tang-Taye and Medina. Ball State regained the lead and opened up a three-point cushion at 12-9 on a kill by senior Shane Witmer, but the Bulldogs fought back to tie the match again at 16-all on a Medina ace.
The score was still tied at 17-all when a service error, a block by freshman Matt Walsh and a BC attack error helped the Cardinals open up a three-point advantage, and the Bulldogs got no closer than two points the rest of the way. Ball State setter Hiago Garchet finished off the match with his only kill of the day.
Barton had its best hitting effort of the day in the final frame, .227, led by Novoa-Miralles, who had five kills and no errors. However, the Ball State team produced another outstanding set of 11 kills and just two errors for a .529 percentage.
The game for Barton was the first of four home matches to open the 2015 season. The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday with their Conference Carolinas opener against Pfeiffer University.
