Patrick Rogers serves Ball State men's volleyball into NCAA Final Four
· Yahoo Sports
NOBLESVILLE — It was only fitting for the match to come down to the hand of Patrick Rogers.
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Ball State men's volleyball was locked into a battle with Pepperdine in an NCAA Regional Championship match. The Cardinals and Waves had traded the first four sets to force a fifth that was truly wild. The Waves went up 4-1 early, but the Cardinals rallied to take an 11-7 lead.
Then it was Pepperdine's turn to rally, stringing together a 7-1 run to force match point at 14-12. A service error by the Waves put the ball in Rogers' hands to serve it back, and Ball State came up with a block to tie it at 14 as the MIVA Player of the Year returned to the service line.
"I wouldn't have rather had anybody else but Pat on the line in that moment," Ball State coach Mike Iandolo said.
Rogers answered the call, ripping two consecutive aces to secure a 16-14 fifth set and give Ball State a 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 16-14) victory for the match. The Cardinals clinched a spot in the NCAA Final Four, which will be played in Los Angeles, California.
Rogers finished with 15 kills and a match-high four service aces.
"The main thing was to stay together and lean on each other when we were down," Rogers said. "It kind of came down to serve and pass from the beginning of the game. That's one of the keys, and obviously, it came down to it in those last couple of minutes. It was just so much fun, I was so grateful to be in that situation."
The 4-seed Cardinals were designated as the host but were away from their home floor due to Worthen Arena being occupied by Ball State commencement ceremonies. Instead, the match was played at the Riverview Health Arena at Innovation Mile in Noblesville in front of a crowd of 1,252 — most of them clad in Ball State red and black to create a raucous pro-Cardinals environment.
"We play for them just as much as we play for us," sophomore opposite Ryan Louis said of the Cardinals fans. "The energy they give helps us play so much. It's the reason why we're almost undefeated at home. The energy we get from the crowd is what helps us play well."
According to athletic director Jeff Mitchell, the Ball State administration began seeking out alternative host sites several weeks ago when the team's hosting chances began feeling more legitimate. With the knowledge that Worthen would be impossible due to graduation, Ball State explored options in Muncie and the greater Indianapolis area before the Riverview Health Arena emerged as the strongest site.
"The arena here was gracious enough to let us explore it, we worked collaboratively with leadership here, and it turned out to be a fantastic experience, not only for Ball State but for Fort Valley State and Pepperdine as well," Mitchell said.
Ball State's frontline defense seemed to feed off the crowd more than any other unit, as the Cardinals tied their season-high with 17.5 total blocks. Junior middle Will Patterson posted a career-high 11 total blocks (all assists) and was the third Cardinal with double-digit kills at 12. With starting middle Braydon Savitski-Lynde still nursing a sprained ankle, the play Ball State has gotten in his stead from Patterson, Jacob Surette and Daniel Günther has kept the team afloat.
Middle wasn't the only spot where Ball State's younger depth shined. Freshman outside hitter Tyler Windt checked in as a serve sub and served for three consecutive Cardinal points in the critical fifth set.
"We don't have the success that we do without the depth we have and the competition we see every day in practice," Iandolo said. "Those guys being able to step in when we need them, whether it's Tyler (Windt) as a serve sub, Marty (Canavan) or Griffin (Satterfield) as a double dub, or any one of our middles that's been in and had to play for us. It's awesome to see because we've been doing it all year, I know I can rely on it in big moments, and then you see that tonight.
"We made a comeback with Tyler serving in the fifth set. How many coaches are going to go to a freshman to serve in a fifth set when you're down three points? I can do that because we've got the guys."
In a sport historically dominated by the West Coast, Ball State will be the lone Midwest team represented in this year's Final Four. With one of the strongest men's volleyball traditions east of the Mississippi River, the Cardinals will have a good chance to add a national championship to their rich history next weekend in California.
"It takes the support we get and then finding the right guys who are willing to come here and put in the work to be successful," Iandolo said. "It's really easy to, on the recruiting trail, lose guys to schools out there because they know that they go there, they're going to have those opportunities to compete on the big stage, but I think we're really showing out. Twice in five years we're going to the Final Four. We can be one of those programs, and we've just got to continue that."
Ball State will take on UC Irvine in the first semifinal match Saturday, May 9, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The Anteaters upset No. 1-seed and Final Four host UCLA in five sets to advance to the semifinal.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State men's volleyball survives Pepperdine to advance to NCAA Final Four