Volleyball Swept By Tournament Host Hofstra

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team could not get past tournament host Hofstra, falling 3-0 (30-24, 31-29, 30-24) to the Pride in the first of two Saturday matches in the Hofstra/Asics Invitational.

Sophomore opposite side attacker Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) continued her solid play for the Cardinals in the loss, tying for match-high honors in kills (13) and total blocks (4).

Sophomore outside hitter Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) also collected double-figure kills for Ball State, pounding out a season-high 10, while adding two of BSU's four service aces.

Freshman libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill//St. Francis H.S.) was one of three Cardinals to score double-digit digs, collecting 18 to mark her fifth-straight match in double-figures.

Off the bench, freshman middle blocker Ashley Heyman (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) accounted for five kills and three blocks, while freshman defensive specialist Karin Caudill (Selma, Ind./Burris Laboratory School) added nine digs.

In the opening game, the host Pride jumped out to a 5-0 advantage and played to an eight point lead at 19-11. After cutting the Hofstra lead to 22-16, the Cardinals rallied off the next five points - - including a pair of kills from senior outside hitter/middle blocker Brittany May (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del H.S.) - - to draw within one at 22-21.

Unfortunately BSU errors on the next four plays, which included a Hofstra block, helped the Pride pull ahead for good and win the game 30-24.

For the first time in the two-day tournament, it was the Cardinals who got an early start in the second game, as two kills and a block assist from Kakatolis and a kill and block assist from Heyman helped BSU build a 5-1 edge. Ball State's largest lead of the game came at the 12-6 mark on a kill from Breivogel.

From there, the Pride went on a 16-9 run to take a slim 22-21 advantage. Breivogel again gave the Cardinals life, smashing a kill and an ace on the next two plays, while serving BSU to a 26-22 advantage.

Ball State earned its first game point of the tournament several plays later, as a Hofstra service error pushed the score to 29-27. However, a BSU blocking error and a kill from Amanda Beyersdorff tied the score at 29-29. Another BSU attack error and a solo block from Hofstra's Monica Knight ended the game 31-29.

In the final set, Hofstra built a 17-10 lead early, only to see the Cardinals rally back and tie the game at 21-21 on another Breivogel kill. But three-straight BSU errors followed, and the Cardinals eventually dropped the set 30-24.

Harmonie Calinda paced the Pride attack with 13 kills, while Beyersdorff finished the contest with 10. Hofstra's Shellane Ogoshi paced all players with 21 digs.

Overall, Hofstra held a .175 (46-22-137) to .130 (40-22-138) attacking advantage, while out-digging BSU 66-to-62 and scoring five aces to Ball State's four. The Cardinals held a 9-to-7.5 edge in blocks.

Ball State concludes play in the Hofstra/Asics Invitational Saturday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. match versus Siena.

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Players Mentioned

Julie Breivogel

Karin Caudill

Ashley Heyman

Elaina Kakatolis

Brittany May