A Hot Eastern Illinois Squad Tops Volleyball In Five

Friday, September 7

Muncie, Ind.

7 p.m.

Ball State University

vs. Eastern Illinois

A Hot Eastern Illinois Squad Tops Volleyball In Five

September 08, 2007 | Women's Volleyball

By: Ball State Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. - - Despite three players with double-figure kills, the Ball State women's volleyball team could not get past a hot Eastern Illinois team, falling to the Panthers by a score of 3-2 (29-31, 30-15, 30-32, 30-28, 15-11) Friday night at Worthen Arena in the opening match of the Ball State Classic.

With the loss, the Cardinals drop to 1-6 on the year, while Eastern Illinois runs its current winning streak to five matches and improves to 7-1.

BSU's top outside hitters each logged double-figure kills in the match, with sophomore Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) smashing a BSU season-high 22, while freshman Abby LaVigne (Swanton, Ohio/Swanton H.S.) added 15.

“Overall, this was the best performance from two outsides we have had in one match this season,” said BSU head coach Dave Boos. “While we gave away a lot of points with some young mistakes, as the season goes along, I look for that total to get less and less.”

Sophomore opposite side attacker Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) was the third BSU player to record double-digit kills, with 11. For the season, Kakatolis has posted 10-or-more kills in six of BSU's seven matches.

On the defensive side, the Cardinals tied a season-high with 14 total blocks, while logging 88 digs.

Junior middle blocker Christine Kennedy (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos H.S.) guided the BSU defense with six block assists, while Breivogel, Kakatolis and freshman middle blocker/opposite side attacker Alexis Shonkwiler (Marion, Ind./Eastbrook H.S.) each scored five total blocks.

Freshman libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) paced the Cardinals with 30 digs, marking the third time this season - - and the second-straight match - - she has logged 30-or-more digs. Kennedy added 15 digs to her stat line, while senior setter Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) tallied 11.

The Panthers' offense was paced by Eliza Zwettler, who logged 18 kills to go along with 11 digs. Three other EIU players collected double-figure kills, with Lauren Sopcic adding 13, Kelsey Orr posting 12 and Alex Zwettler netting 10.

Eastern Illinois' Shaina Boylan recorded a match-high 31 digs, while Muncie, Indiana, native and Wapahani H.S. product Maren Crabtree added 20, to go along with a match-best 52 assists.

The opening set was the closest of the night, with 20 ties and seven lead changes. The Panthers looked poised to win the game, pulling ahead 28-25, but a four-point BSU run, which included a pair of Breivogel kills, gave Ball State the first game point at 29-28. After a kill from Orr tied the set at 29, Parrell came up with a huge kill for the Cardinals, while Breivogel recorded a game-winning block.

In the second game, the teams played to a 12-12 tie before a string of BSU errors allowed the visitors to pull away and eventually win the set 30-15.

The third game saw the Cardinals build a 24-20 advantage, only to have the Panthers tie the score at 25. The Eastern Illinois rally continued, with the Panthers reaching game point at 29-27 before another Breivogel kill, followed by an EIU attack error tied the game at 30. A. Zwettler followed with a kill to give the guests their second game point at 30-29.

Once again, a Breivogel kill sparked the Cardinals, tying the set at 30, before a service ace from Rio and an EIU attack error gave BSU a 32-30 game three victory.

After falling behind 20-14 in the fourth set, the Cardinals went on a 14-6 run to take a 28-26 advantage. Unfortunately, the Panthers scored the final four points to win the game 30-28 and force a deciding fifth set.

Ball State scored two of the first three points in the fifth game, off kills from Kakatolis and LaVigne, only to see Eastern Illinois climb ahead by four points at 10-6. BSU managed to cut the gap to two points at 11-9, but could not get any closer, falling 15-11.

Overall, EIU held a .179 (65-30-195) to .156 (66-35-199) hitting advantage, while adding 10 aces to BSU's five.

The Cardinals out-blocked the Panthers 14-5, while holding a slim 88-84 edge in aces.

The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the court Saturday night, when it battles Illinois State at 7 p.m.

The Redbirds, who enter the day with a 6-2 record and three-straight wins, will battle Eastern Illinois at 12:30 p.m. in the second match of the Ball State Classic.