MUNCIE, IN – Rutgers-Newark sophomore outside hitter Marcin Midura hammered down a career-high 19 kills, but Ball State held off an upset bid, 3-2, in Worthen Arena. 

Ball State 3, Rutgers-Newark 2

Midura hit .302 and added an ace, a solo block, two assisted blocks and five digs to his line, but the Scarlet Raiders (1-4) fell in five sets for the third time this season. The Cardinals (6-1) won 30-26, 29-31, 30-21, 25-30, 15-8.

Senior outside hitter Nate Stott totaled 18.5 points with 16 kills, an ace and three assisted blocks while tying freshman libero Tomas Goldsmith with seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Kenneth de Groh registered 11 kills, four assisted blocks, a team-high 12 digs and an ace while freshman middle hitter Mark Kochan hit .545 with seven kills and just one error on 11 swings. Kochan added three aces and four assisted blocks.

Senior middle blocker Jon Keller gave the Raiders five players in double figure points with six kills, three aces, a solo block and three assisted blocks. Junior setters Liran Shapiro and Jeff Zornig had 28 and 23 assists, respectively.

Jamion Hartley and Lee Meyer posted 16 kills apiece to lead Ball State which got 62 assists and four aces from setter Ethan Pheister. J.D. Gasparovic added 11 kills, three solo blocks and two assisted blocks.

After dropping the opening set, the Raiders clawed back behind a balanced attack in the second frame. Midura and de Groh had four kills apiece, and Stott and Keller, three apiece in the set. Back-to-back kills by de Groh and Stott ended the 31-29 battle.

After the Cardinals went up 2-1, Midura hammered down six kills and Stott, five, in the fourth set to level the match. The Raiders hit .324 (18 kills, 6 errors, 37 attacks) as Zornig posted 14 assists in the frame.

Ball State delivered four aces in the fifth set to get separation at 11-6.

Rutgers-Newark travels to No. 5 Penn State on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest.