Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Tops Miami in Thrilling Five-Gamer
September 23, 2005 | Women's Volleyball
Ball State vs. Miami Box Score
Muncie, Ind. - - The Ball State (7-4; 1-0 Mid-American Conference) women's volleyball team took advantage of its largest crowd of the season to post a thrilling 3-2 (25-30, 30-24, 19-30, 30-26, 15-10) come-from-behind victory over Miami (7-5; 0-1 MAC) in its league opener Friday evening at Worthen Arena. With the win, BSU head coach Randy Litchfield improved to 17-0 in MAC home openers.
Senior outside attacker Sarah Obras (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Height H.S.) paced the Cardinals' attack with a season-high 23 kills, while tying a season-best with 18 digs. With the double-figure dig total, Obras upped her career total to 1,394, moving her six shy of becoming the first player in MAC history to post 1,700+ kills and 1,400+ digs in a career.
Junior Kelly Cochran (LaPorte, Ind./Michigan City Marquette H.S.) and senior Rachel Refenes (Milwaukee, Wis./Milwaukee Lutheran H.S.) also posted double-figure kill totals in the victory with 17 and 15, respectively. Cochran added 17 digs in the match, while Refenes paced all players with eight blocks.
The opening frame saw the team battle back and forth with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage. With the RedHawks ahead 17-14, Ball State would answer with a five-point service run by Cochran, which started with a kill from sophomore Brittany May (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del H.S.) who was making her first career home start in the contest. Unfortunately, Miami would manage to tie the game at 25-25 before a five-point run of their own ended the set at 30-25.
The second set saw the Cardinals jump out to an early 11-4 advantage and never look back. BSU took several seven-point advantages before Miami cut the gap to four at 27-23. BSU would add two of the next three points before Obras put down the game-winner at 30-24.
In the third game, the teams played to a 16-16 tie before the RedHawks posted a 14-3 run to win the game 30-19. During the Miami run, the Cardinals committed eight of their 12 attack errors in the game, with none coming on a block.
After Ball State tied the score at 3-3 early in the fourth frame, they took a 4-3 lead off a block by Refenes and sophomore Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) and never trailed again. Cochran paced the club with six kills in the game, including the game-winner at 30-26.
In the fifth and final set, Miami would hold an early 5-4 advantage, only to have the Cardinals score four of the next five points to take an 8-6 lead at the break. After the RedHawks cut the gap to one point at 8-7, BSU would pull ahead by five points at 13-8 on a pair of kills from Obras and Refenes. Miami would go on to score the next two points before a pair of costly errors gave the Cardinals the win at 15-10.
In addition to scoring a pivotal block assist in the fourth game, Parrell added a career-best 58 assists in the match. She also finished the contest with a career-best 15 digs, six kills and two blocks.
Junior libero Amanda McCormick (Muncie, Ind./Burris H.S.) collected 34 digs in the match, falling one shy of tying her career-high set vs. Yale earlier in the year. McCormick also tallied a kill and six assists in the victory, while senior defensive specialist Stephanie Bacan (Remsen, Iowa/St. Mary's H.S.) collected eight digs.
May finished the night with seven kills and four total blocks, while junior Kirby Gibson (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson H.S.) chipped in six kills and two blocks. Also factoring in the win were senior Kristin Westhof (Fruitport, Mich./Fruitport H.S.) and sophomore Lauren Robbins (Ennis, Texas/Ennis H.S.).
The Cardinals were able to capture the victory in the contest despite being out-hit by the RedHawks .183 (65-28-202) to .179 (75-36-218). Miami also held a 6-4 advantage in service aces, while BSU out-dug (97 to 91) and out-blocked (10 to 9) MU.
Emily Schroeder paced four RedHawks who posted double-figure kills in the match with 15, while Susy Wolford paced four Miami players who posted double-digit digs with 29.
The Ball State women's volleyball team will continue MAC action Saturday with a 7 p.m. contest vs. Bowling Green at Worthen Arena. In addition to being webcasted and broadcasted on WCRD 91.3 FM, the match can be seen live on the Ball State Sports Network (Muncie Cable Channel 2).
