In the middle of the first set, the Norse are all tied up with number eight-ranked Ball State. NKU has started strong, tied 12-12, looking to take back the lead. Ryan Peterson goes back to serve after two successful ones. 

Peterson lines up the ball and throws it in the air, “Wack.” The ball floats to the other side of the court. The Cardinals dig the ball up, two, three, hitting it back over the Norse side. Adam Balir’s fast reflexes kick in, hitting a side hand back to Ball State.

BSU’s Libero Victor Scherer bumps it up to Lucas Machado, who quickly sets it up for Braydon Savitski-Lynde. Savitski-Lynde, flying through the air, punches the ball right down the middle, going between NKU blockers. “Boom,” the ball hits the floor, gaining the lead 13-12

Ball State opened up the game from there, going on a 4-0 run. The number eight team in the country dominated the rest of the game, coasting to the 3-0 win over the Norse on Feb. 21.

This loss pushed NKU to 3-8 overall and 0-4 in league play. But this win for Ball State pushed their record to 13-2 overall and 5-1 in league play.

Outside hitter Patrick Rogers led the Cardinals. He finished with eight kills, four block assists and one serve ace on a .267 hitting percentage.

For the Norse, Griffin Wheatley had another big night. He posted up eight kills and two assists. Freshman Drew Palmer wasn’t far behind Wheatley with five kills, three block assists, two assists and two digs.

In the first set, it was a battle as both teams traded points back and forth until Ball State opened up the game, going on a 5-0 run. Down the stretch, NKU tried to bounce back, going on two 3-0 runs, but the lead BSU created was too big a hole to dig out of as they won the set 25-21.

The second set started like the previous one did, with a lot of back-and-forth play. The set opened up when the Cardinals went on a 3-0 run, then after a bad set by Griffin Satterfield that gave the Norse a point on the board, they went on another 3-0 run. Three of those six points for Ball State were service aces by Will Patterson and Rogers.

After that 6-1 run, NKU had no response as Ball State cruised to a 15-18 set win, moving the game to 2-0 in the Cardinals’ favor.

In the third and final set of the game, Ball State’s firepower came through in the start, getting an early 9-2 lead. Both teams would rally back and forth until the game sat at match point for BSU, 24-19. In some huge crunch time minutes, NKU went on a hopeful 3-0 run to cut

 the lead to just three, 24-21. But the Cardinals got the last laugh, getting a huge kill by Dante Cayaban to win the set 25-21 and the game 3-0.

The Norse started out the game hot, putting the No. Eight teams in the county on their toes. They also showed fight at the end of the third set. Head Coach Jim Palilonis knows it’s all about learning and figuring out how to play all three periods consistently.

“We pushed that group. We played really well. We actually pushed them to their bench. And then I think our response to pushing them to their bench was maybe letting off the gas a little bit,” Palilonis said. “It’s a great thing to get to that moment, but you got to understand you’re not done yet, and teams like Ball State have so much depth that even their bench is just as talented as anybody.”

Wheatley had another strong performance that he has built throughout the season. Palilonis believes he is one of the stable factors of their young team.

“He’s a tremendous player to hit out of that back row. When we’re just not in the system, it eliminates one of our important parts of our offense. But Griffin’s been doing a really good part, really proud of the good work with our team, and just going to continue to improve,” Palilonis said.