Box Score
 
MUNCIE, IN— Ball State, ranked 12th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II men's national poll, raised its overall mark to 16-5 Thursday night in a 3-1 victory over visiting NJIT, 25-13, 21-15, 25-17 and 25-19 in Worthen Arena.
 
Ball State, which plays in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, has won nine in a row, including eight at home, while NJIT falls to 8-10 overall, 2-9 on the road this season.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Marcin Niemczewski paced Ball State with 13 kills, 7 digs and 5 block assists.  Middle hitter Matt Leske hit an impressive .615 with 9 kills and 1 error on 13 swings, while adding 7 total blocks (2 solo, 5 assists) for the home team.
 
Senior setter Graham McIlvaine piled up a match-high 33 assists and on defense, 9 digs and 3 total blocks defensively for the Cardinals.  Junior libero David Ryan Vander Meer led the match on the defensive end with 23 digs.
 
The match kills leader Thursday was NJIT's Kajetan Borecki with 14 kills, followed by TJ Jurko (12) and Ryan Thomas (10).  Thomas, the NJIT middle, combined for a .562 hitting percentage, with 10 kills and 1 error, on 16 swings, while adding 3 block assists and 2 service aces.
 
The Highlanders used two setters, getting 19 assists in three sets from junior Zak Robben  and 18 assists in four set from Luke Robbe.  Junior libero Oren Zyndorf led the Highlanders defensively with 11 digs as Chris Kaepernick posted 10 for the visitors.
 
The first frame saw four ties and two lead changes, the final at 10-10 on a kill by NJIT's Thomas.  Ball State rallied off four straight points to pull ahead 14-10 and later increased its lead to 19-13.  The Cardinals scored the final six points of the set, cruising to a 25-13 victory.
 
In the second set, the Highlanders combined for a .367 hitting percentage with 13 kills, 2 errors on 30 attempts for a 25-21 victory.  The set, which seesawed back-and-forth, saw the home team call a timeout with the Highlanders ahead 19-16 and again at 23-20.  After a kill by Ball State's Niemczewski – the Highlanders scored the final two points on a kill by Kajetan Borecki and service ace by Ryan Thomas to earn a 25-21 victory.
 
Ball State opened up the third frame on a 10-5 run and extended its lead to as many as eight, 20-12, as the Cardinals rolled to a 25-17 win.
 
In the final set, there were saw five ties and three lead changes early, until the Cardinals scored four straight points to take a 14-10 lead, resulting in an NJIT timeout.  NJIT pulled within three, 15-12, but Ball State would extend the lead to five, 20-15 on a service ace by McIlvaine.  The Highlanders came as close as six, 23-17, but the Cardinals finished off the match on a short 3-2 spurt for a 25-19 victory.
 
NJIT will break for eight days and return to action at Grand Canyon on March 28-29 in Phoenix, Arizona.  The teams will first meet on March 28 in Antelope Gymnasium at 6pm (MT).