MUNCIE, Ind. - For the first time since the 2011 season, the Hawks marched into Worthen Arena and emerged victorious, dealing the No. 14 Cardinals of Ball State University a five-set defeat (13-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, 15-8) for QU's first victory over BSU in over a decade, dating back to a 3-2 Hawks triumph in Pepsi Arena back on 3/21/15. 

AJ Goedheer was the driving force in the Hawks second MIVA victory of the season, leading all players with 23 kills on a .313 hitting percentage to go with a team-leading trio of aces. 

In addition, Armaan Dosanjh delivered his best all-around performance of the season, tying with teammate, Tomas Badan for a match-high 6 blocks while also leading the match in assists with 44 and picking up 10 digs, another match-high. 

Set One

The first set was one to forget for the Hawks as BSU burst out to a 7-1 advantage and never looked back, not allowing QU any closer than five points the rest of the set on the way to a convincing 25-13 victory in the opening frame. 

Set Two 

After a split of the first 10 points of the set, Ball State looked poised to run off with the second set just as it had in the first, taking five of the next six points to open a 10-6 edge. 

The Hawks hung around, biding their time to strike until it came at the 13-10 mark, where Quincy unleashed a seven-point barrage, capped off by a Goedheer ace to jump out in front 17-13. 

The Cardinals responded, taking the next two points, before another Hawks run, this time just four points, put QU in prime position ahead 21-15 as Quincy went on to even the tally at a set apiece with a 25-20 victory. 

Set Three

It was a tight set in the early stages of the third, as just three points served as the largest lead up to the 15-14 mark in favor of Ball State, where the Cardinals took five of the next six points to build a late 20-15 advantage. Moments later following a QU point, BSU took the final five points of the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match. 

Set Four 

Ball State played with a lead for much of the fourth set, looking to close out Quincy without having to go the distance, but the Hawks had other plans, responding to each Cardinals advance with one of their own until QU found its opening. 

Late in the set chasing two points at 19-17, the Hawks constructed a six-point run that proved to be the decider in the frame, powering ahead 23-19, until back-to-back kills from Goedheer shortly after sealed a 25-21 winner for QU. 

Set Five 

Quincy took the initiative early in the final set, doubling up BSU to a 4-2 score thanks to kills from Goedheer, Aleksandar Sosa and Relja Milosavljevic, along with a Milosavljevic ace.

Four of the next six points went to the Hawks to double up Ball State, once again, this time to an 8-4 score at the changing of sides. The Cardinals took two of the next three to close the gap to 9-6, before QU fired off four straight points to press ahead 13-6. 

Following a pair of BSU scores, back-to-back Cardinals errors delivered the Hawks a 15-8 set, and 3-2 match victory over No. 14 Ball State. 

The victory is Quincy's fourth over BSU dating back to the programs inception in 1994. 

When asked what it meant to him to pick up Quincy's first win in Worthen Arena since 2011, Hawks first year Head Coach Omar Sanchez gave all the credit to his players, "honestly I didn't even have an idea of that, at the end of the day, I just tell the guys to focus on what they can control," also adding "we have been working really hard all year long, we've lost a lot of heart-breakers in five to nationally ranked teams, and I told the guys keep believing and keep fighting." 


Next Up 

The Hawks will keep fighting tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana, taking on the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne for a 7:00 PM EST MIVA conference match at Gates Sports Center.