Women's Volleyball Survives Scare versus Buffalo
November 14, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - The No. 6 seed Ball State (12-17) women's volleyball team survived a huge scare Tuesday night, topping No. 11 seed Buffalo (14-20) by a score of 3-2 (26-30, 30-27, 30-28, 25-30, 15-9) in the opening round of the 2006 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Worthen Arena.
With the win, Ball State advances to face No. 3 seed Bowling Green in the
Much like last Saturday's regular-season finale versus Central Michigan, it took a fifth and deciding game to get the Cardinals rolling.
Freshman Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) would get BSU on the positive side of the scoreboard with her first of three kills in the final set. Two Buffalo errors later, the Cardinals held a quick 3-0 advantage.
After a kill from UB's Jenna Mape - - who finished the night with a match-high 22 kills - - BSU junior
May would give the Cardinals a 6-2 advantage with another kill, while a block assists from seniors
One point later, Cochran and Gibson would combine for another block assists, giving Ball State an 8-4 advantage at the court switch. After trading six more points, a Buffalo attack error and a block assists from May and freshman
A BSU attack error out of a Buffalo time out would make the score 13-8, but May would answer with her fourth kill of the game to give BSU match point at 14-8. After a service error, Cochran finished the game at 15-9 and the match at 3-2 with her 11th kill of the night.
May and Breivogel would tie for team-high honors with 19 kills apiece, with May pacing BSU's main hitters with a .425 (
Cochran would finish the night with her fourth-straight double-double, adding 18 digs to her 11 kills. She also recorded three blocks and a pair of service aces.
Junior Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) guided the BSU offense through most of the first four games, finishing the night with a team-high 55 assists. Parrell and freshman Cassie Conner (Willow Springs, Ill./Lyons Township H.S.) would split time in the fifth set, with Conner recording five of BSU's eight assists in the set.
Parrell would finish the night with her seventh double-double of the season, adding 10 kills to her 55 assists. She also logged six digs and three blocks. Conner finished the contest with six assists and a dig.
Senior libero Amanda McCormick (Muncie, Ind./Burris H.S.) saw her school-record streak of matches-with 30-plus digs come to an end, logging just 29 in the match. However, she would make several key digs in the fifth game, while adding two aces and a kill in the match.
McCormick continues to lead the nation with a 7.68 digs-per-game average, while her 830 digs on the year rank second all-time in NCAA Division I annals.
Gibson finished the night with a match-best six total blocks, while scoring nine kills, a dig and a .400 (
Pedrosa would end the match with two aces and two digs, while senior Stephanie Bacan (Remsen, Iowa/St. Mary's H.S.) recorded double-figure digs for the second-straight match with 11.
Overall, Buffalo held a slim .269 (79-27-193) to .258 (77-22-213) hitting advantage, despite being out-hit .286 (
In addition to Mape's match-high 22 kills, Claudia Neba added 21 kills for the Bulls. Buffalo's Lizaiha Garcia paced all players with 30 digs in the match.
