AUSTIN, Texas. — Of the six groups that participated within the First Level Collegiate Problem in Austin, Texas, two left the NCAA males’s volleyball battle royale unbeaten.
One was Ohio State. The opposite was Stanford.
After sweeping No. 7 Penn State on Friday, No. 8 Stanford (6-0) bought a bit extra resistance from No. 14 Ball State (7-4) on Saturday en path to an up-and-down 25-9, 21-25, 30-28, 25-18 victory.
“I feel the large takeaway (from the weekend) is males’s volleyball, high to backside, is fairly aggressive,” mentioned Stanford fifth-year reverse Will Rottman. “You’ve type of bought to deliver it each match.
“Previously, we’ve had some huge wins however stricken by some dangerous losses. So thrilled to be constant by this level within the 12 months and cope with the ebbs of flows inside matches and are available out with the ‘W’ most occasions.”
Rottman had an enormous night time within the Austin Conference Heart with 22 kills, hitting .409), to go together with 4 of Stanford;s eight aces, two blocks and 6 digs to earn player-of-the-match honors. Whereas Stanford hit .303 and had 12 serving errors, Ball State hit .185 and had 4 aces and 13 errors.
Moses Wagner, who was named participant of the match Friday in Stanford’s victory over Penn State, added 15 kills, an help, eight digs and two blocks, one solo. Alex Rottman, Will’s sophomore brother, added seven kills, 5 digs, an help and 4 blocks, two solo. Adam Chang had 4 kills and 4 blocks.
Setter Nathan Lietzke had two kills, 39 assists, two aces and 10 digs, and Luke Turner had 9 digs and three assists.
Stanford neutralized Ball State junior Tinaishe Ndavazocheva, who was practically unstoppable the day past in opposition to USC, when he registered 23 kills on .300-plus hitting and served six aces. In opposition to Stanford, he had 9 kills on 39 swings for a .026 proportion and a lone ace. He had two blocks and 5 digs.
“I feel the extent of calmness in these conditions has develop into extra distinguished all through the years,” Will Rottman mentioned. “That’s been good. Counting on our expertise has been good. I don’t know what it seems to be like from the skin in, however we really feel fairly assured in these conditions.”
On the opposite aspect, Ball State coach Donan Cruz lamented one other one which bought away. His group misplaced in 4 to USC on Friday after profitable the primary set.
“It’s January, so we now have to attempt our hardest to stay optimistic,” Cruz mentioned. “We’re fierce opponents. Our group had alternatives, and we seemed like we had been able to battle, and we did. That’s a what top-level (group) goes to do. They’re going to emphasize you out and problem you to be your greatest in actually laborious moments.
“In set two, they made a bunch of errors, and we capitalized. And even in set three we fought again. There have been moments that we actually wish to dangle on and construct.”
Rogers had 19 kills on 32 swings to hit .500 and had two blocks and 4 digs. Hernandez contributed 9 kills however hit .080 to go together with 4 blocks and 5 digs. Tinais Nadavazocheva had 9 kills however eight errors, an ace, two blocks and 5 digs. Wil McPhillips had 5 blocks, one solo, to go together with two kills and and ace.
Setter Griffin Satterfield had two kills, 41 assists, an ace, two blocks and two digs.
Ball State has every week off earlier than enjoying host subsequent Sunday to No. 3 Hawai’i. 4 nights later, Penn State involves city.
“The primary takeaway is we now have some areas the place I feel we now have a whole lot of room to develop,” Cruz mentioned. “We’ve bought to attempt to give attention to them. It’s fixable stuff. It’s not like we’re sitting right here and we don’t have the fellows … We’ve simply bought to place it collectively, and our guys simply have to stay constant and have an excellent angle.”