Ball State University
@ Akron
Volleyball Tops Akron For Second-Straight Win
November 03, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
AKRON, Ohio - - The Ball State women's volleyball team picked up its second-straight win with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 (25-30, 30-27, 23-30, 30-25, 16-14) victory at Akron Saturday night.
With the win, BSU improves to 4-10 in Mid-American Conference action, while climbing to 5-22 overall. Akron falls to 10-18 (2-12 MAC) with the loss.
Junior Christine Kennedy (San Marcos, Calif./University of San Diego H.S.) paced three Cardinals in double-figure kills with a career-high tying 19. She also racked up 11 digs, five total blocks and three aces.
Senior Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) also collected a double-double for Ball State, adding 15 digs and 50 assists, while smashing a career-high five service aces.
BSU freshman Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) paced all players with 22 digs, while adding a career-high tying four service aces.
After dropping two of the first three games, the Cardinals found themselves in an early 8-4 hole in the fourth game, before Kennedy came to life, smashing a kill and adding back-to-back aces to help BSU tie the game at 8-8. However, the Cardinals found themselves still trailing by three at the 19-16 mark.
At that point, sophomore Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) tallied back-to-back kills, while Parrell added back-to-back service aces to give BSU its first lead in the game at 20-19.
A kill from BSU freshman Abby LaVigne (Swanton, Ohio/Swanton H.S.) and a Akron attack error made sure the Cardinals did not trail the rest of the way, as a Breivogel and Alexis Shonkwiler (Marion, Ind./Eastbrook H.S.) block assist ended the game at 30-25 and forced a deciding fifth set.
The teams opened the game by playing to a 7-7 tie before a four-point Zips run pushed the score to 11-7. Ball State would not go away, rallying off five of the next six points to tie the game at 12.
Senior Brittany May (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del H.S.) gave the Cardinals the first match point of the night at 14-13, but she followed with an attack error to make the score 14-14. However, Kennedy and Breivogel responded with back-to-back kills to give BSU a 16-14 game-five win.
Breivogel finished the contest with 16 kills for the Cardinals, while LaVigne added 10.
Freshman Karin Caudill (Selma, Ind./Burris Laboratory School) added 14 digs in the contest, while recording her first career kill late in the third game.
Overall, the Cardinals finished the match with a .140 (68-38-215) attack percentage, while recording 82 digs, 12 aces and nine team blocks.
Akron finished the contest with a .199 (68-29-196) attack percentage, while scoring 83 digs, 11 team blocks and five aces.
Elizabeth Martin and Brionna Patterson each tallied 19 kills for the Zips, while Megan Rodriguez added a team-best 20 digs.
The Ball State women's volleyball team will look to extend its winning streak to a season-high three matches next Friday, when it travels to Northern Illinois for a 7 p.m. (CT) showdown versus the Huskies. BSU will conclude the regular season the following day, with a 7 p.m. match at Western Michigan.
