Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Posts 3-0 Win Over Western Michigan
October 29, 2005 | Women's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - The Ball State (15-8, 8-4 MAC) women's volleyball team extended its winning streak to five matches with a 3-0 (34-32, 30-21, 30-23) victory over visiting Western Michigan (15-8; 8-5 MAC) on Senior Night Saturday at Worthen Arena. With the win, the Cardinals move into second place in the MAC West Division, upped their home record to 10-1 and are now 14-1 vs. WMU at Worthen Arena.
"Our four seniors - - Kristin, Steph, Rachel and Sarah - - came to Ball State for the tradition and quality of the program," said Ball State head coach Randy Litchfield. "In their time here, they have each really added to that tradition."
Reigning MAC West Division Player of the Week senior Rachel Refenes (Milwaukee, Wis./Milwaukee Heights H.S.) continued her stellar offensive play on the evening, racking up a match-best 18 kills, while hitting at a .295 (
"We have really thrived off of Rachel's offense lately," Litchfield said. "But tonight it was more critical that she stopped WMU's Shaylen Jackson. I don't think anyone has done as good of a job at stopping Jackson as she did tonight."
In addition to the play of Refenes, BSU's season-best crowd of 1,073 helped the Cardinals rebound from down early in the first game and kept the pressure on the visitors for much of the match."
"There are two things that add to the college athletics atmosphere," Litchfield added. "The first being a great pep band, which we had last night when Delta H.S. joined us at the arena. The other great part of college sports is student fans. Tonight, our Side Out Crew was second to none and really helped change the pace of the match in our favor."
BSU's other seniors also contributed in the win, with Sarah Obras (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights H.S.) collecting her 12th double-double of the season with 10 kills and 21 digs. Kristin Westhof (Fruitport, Mich./Fruitport H.S.) added two kills and three blocks, while Stephanie Bacan (Remsen, Iowa/St. Mary's H.S.) collected five digs and a service ace.
After falling behind 19-11 in the opening set, the Cardinals came to life, posting a 12-4 run to tie the set at 23-23. Refenes followed with a kill, while Bacan added a service ace to give Ball State a 25-23 edge. The Cardinals would hold game-point at 29-25, before three-straight kills from WMU's Kathryn Babcock pushed the score to 29-28.
The Broncos would tie the set at 29-29 on a BSU attack error and pull ahead 30-29 on another kill from Babcock. After two-more WMU match points, Obras smashed a kill to make the score 32-32. After a Bronco attack error, Refenes and Kirby Gibson (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson H.S.) combined for the game-winning block assist at 34-32.
In the second stanza, the Cardinals jumped ahead 3-0 and never trailed. WMU would tie the score once at 3-3, only to have the Cardinals pull ahead by four at 14-10. Back-to-back kills from Gibson later in the set would give BSU a five-point advantage at 20-15. BSU would then score 10 of the final 16 points to win the game 30-21.
In the third and final frame, WMU would pull ahead by four points at the 13-9 mark, only to have BSU answer back with six-straight points to take a 15-13 lead. From there, the Cardinals would never trail again, winning the game 30-23.
Junior Kelly Cochran (La Porte, Ind./Michigan City Marquette H.S.) recorded her 15th double-double in the contest, posting 10 kills and 14 digs. She also added an assist, block and ace.
Gibson would finish the match with four kills, three blocks and a dig. Sophomore setter Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) added 38 assists, seven digs, three kills, two blocks and a service ace in the win.
Defensively, junior libero Amanda McCormick (Muncie, Ind./Burris H.S.) collected 23 digs on the night, upping her MAC-leading digs-per-game average to 5.95.
Also factoring in the win for the Cardinals were junior Heather Burleson (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian H.S.) with a block assist and sophomore
Jackson would pace the Broncos with 12 kills on the night, while Katy Duffy posted a match-best 24 digs.
For the night, the Cardinals posted a .192 (47-18-151) to .095 (46-30-168) advantage in hitting. BSU also posted 11 blocks, compared to three for WMU. Ball State also held a 5-3 edge in aces, while both teams collected 80 digs.
The Ball State women's volleyball team will take its five-match winning streak on the road Friday, when it travels to Akron for a
