Box Score QUINCY, Ill. - The QU men's volleyball team faced its fifth nationally ranked opponent in a row on Tuesday evening (Mar. 4) in the No. 12 Cardinals of Ball State, falling in a hard-fought four sets (23-25, 25-23, 24-26, 23-25). 

Four Hawks recorded double digit kills, led by Aleksandar Sosa with 13, along with 11 from Ljubisa Novakovic and 10 apiece for both Barnabas Fenyvesi and Tomas Badan while Armaan Dosanjh directed the offense to the tune of 42 assits. 

Set One

The first set was incredibly tight throughout, as neither side was able to open an advantage any larger than two points for the entirety of the set. 

Quincy took its first lead of the set on a Ljubisa Novakovic kill and Ball State error to press ahead 3-2. The Hawk remained on the right side of things until a pair of BSU points put the Cardinals ahead 8-7 shortly after. 

A kill and ace from Sosa put the Hawks back out in front 13-12 as QU was able to stay at the forefront until late in the set where a two point BSU swing put the Ball State ahead 23-22 heading down the stretch. Quincy evened the tally at 23-23 on the next point before surrendering the final two to drop the set 25-23. 

Set Two 

Ball State opened a narrow 7-5 edge to open the set, before a Barnabas Fenyvesi kill, Sosa block and two Cardinals errors formed a four point run to put QU ahead 9-7. 

The Hawks maintained a slim advantage throughout the middle of the set until BSU was able to even the tally late at 19-19 with a two point run. A Trey Severson ace and Ljubisa Novakovic kill put Quincy ahead 21-19 before a kill and block from Fenyvesi extended the advantage to 23-20. 

The Cardinals took the next three points to deadlock the score at 23-23, prompting a Relja Milosavljevic kill and Sosa block to secure a 25-23 win in the second set. 

Set Three

Six of the first eight points went in favor of the visitors to find QU trailing 6-2, until a three point run trimmed the deficit to 6-5. A BSU swing of three shortly after put the Cardinals in front 10-6, followed up by runs of three and four to open an 18-9 edge. 

Quincy answered with a run of four to close the gap to 18-13. Later in the set at 22-16, a six point explosion burst the Hawks back into the set at 22-22.

Following a Ball State point, the Hawks used an error and Fenyvesi ace to force set-point before the Cardinals took the final three scores of the set to claim a 26-24 victory. 

Set Four 

The Hawks got off to a fine start in the final set, taking five of the first seven to build a 5-2 edge. BSU got back into the mix with seven of the next nine points to move out front 9-7. 

Later in the action, a pair of kills from Sosa along with a Milosavljevic block and Ball State error put Quincy back ahead 14-13. The Cardinals responded with five of the next seven to press ahead 18-16. 

QU was able to pull within a point late on multiple occasions including at 24-23, but it ultimately wasn't enough as the Cardinals took the final point for a 25-23 set and 3-1 match win. 

Stats Leaders: 
13 Kills, 3 Blocks - Aleksandar Sosa
42 Assists, 11 Digs - Armaan Dosanjh
2 Aces, 3 Blocks - Relja Milosavljevic
11 Digs - Barnabas Fenyvesi