Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
8-11, 4-1MAC
Northern Illinois
10-9, 2-3MAC
First Place Volleyball Tops NIU In Thriller
October 11, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
DEKALB, Ill. - - In its hardest fought match of the 2008 season, the Ball State women's volleyball team battled back from down 9-2 in the fifth set to score a 3-2 (17-25, 30-28, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13) victory over Northern Illinois Friday evening at Victor E. Court.
With the win, the Cardinals not only pick up their first victory in DeKalb since the 2002 season, but BSU improves to 4-1 in Mid-American Conference action and remains in first place in the MAC West Division. The fourth-straight win on the season moves BSU's overall record to 8-11. Northern Illinois drops to 10-9 (2-3 MAC) with the loss.
Offensively, two stars emerged for the Cardinals in the victory, as Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) collected 10 kills to carry the Cardinals through the first two sets, while Alisha Green (Country Club Hills, Ill./Hillcrest H.S.) came to life at the end of the match, scoring a pair of pivotal kills and adding a pair of block assists to help BSU rally back and win the fifth game. Green finished the night with 15 kills.
Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) paced the Cardinals with 16 kills, while tying for team-high honors with four total blocks.
Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./New Albany H.S.) and Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) also had strong performances for the Cardinals, collecting 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Both Breivogel and Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) finished the match with double-doubles, as Breivogel added 14 digs to her 10 kills, while McGinnis dished out 47 assists and added 12 digs.
Alyssa Rio (St. Francis, Ill./Wayne H.S.) was Ball State's top defender, collecting 22 digs, while Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.) added 10 digs.
Northern Illinois Cassie Yates paced all players with 18 kills in the contest, while Allison McGlaughlin added 15 markers and the MAC's leading attacker Meagan Schoenrock was limited to 14 kills. NIU's Maddie Hughes paced all players with 28 digs.
The match started with the teams playing to a 5-5 tie in the opening set. NIU followed by scoring the next two points, on a BSU attack error and a kill from NIU's Schoenrock, to claim a 7-5 edge. Sullivan tallied a kill on the next play for BSU, but the Huskies answered with five points and never looked back, winning the set 25-17.
Despite falling behind 6-2 to open the second set, the Cardinals found some momentum behind the arm of Boyd, as four early kills from the freshman helped BSU tie the score at 12. Kakatolis followed with back-to-back markers of her own to give Ball State its first lead in the match at 14-12.
Kills from Boyd and Sullivan helped extend the BSU advantage to 16-13, but the hosts responded with the next four points to reclaim a 17-16 edge. From there, neither team was able to pull away, as they traded several one-point advantages and played to a 23-23 tie. Ball State reached set point first on a kill from Kakatolis, only to see back-to-back hitting errors give NIU its first set point.
NIU would not convert on its first opportunity to claim the set either, thanks to a kill from Green. The Huskies would get two more chances to close the set, but kills from Green and Boyd help keep the Cardinals alive. BSU got its second chance to win the set after a service ace from McGinnis, but this time a kill from NIU's Yates knotted the score at 28.
The BSU set victory was not denied, however, as Boyd smashed back-to-back kills to lead BSU to a 30-28 set win. In all, Boyd collected seven kills in the frame while hitting for a .545 (7-1-11) rate of success in the set.
Ball State carried the momentum over early in the third set, scoring the first three points which included kills from Green and Breivogel, only to see the home squad answer with a 9-2 run to claim a 9-5 advantage in force BSU to call its first timeout.
After NIU built a five-point edge at 14-9, Ball State managed to draw within two points at 15-13, only to see the Huskies respond with the next three points. Northern Illinois was then able to extend its advantage to 23-17, with the help of three kills from McGlaughlin, only to see BSU rally back within two at 23-21.
This time, it was NIU's No. 12 Yates who could not be stopped, as she pounded back-to-back kills to give Northern Illinois a 25-21 third-set victory.
After Northern Illinois scored the first two points of the fourth set, a pair of kills from Kakatolis helped spark a 7-0 BSU run, giving the visitors from Muncie a 7-2 advantage. The Cardinals maintained a four-point lead at the 18-14 mark, before a pair of McGlaughlin kills force BSU to call its first timeout.
Green answered the call after the break, scoring kills on two of the next three plays, while a Rio service ace pushed the lead back to four at 21-17 and force NIU to use its second break of the frame. BSU went on to win the set 25-19 on kills from Boyd, Sullivan and a pair of markers from McGinnis.
Northern Illinois came out determined not to lose its second-straight five-set match, posting nine of the first 11 points in the fifth frame, despite a pair of blocks from BSU's McGinnis. Kills from BSU's Breivogel, Boyd and Kakatolis helped the Cardinals draw within four at 9-5.
Moments later, kills from Kakatolis, Sullivan and a Northern Illinois attack error brought Ball State within two points, at 11-9, and forced NIU to call a timeout. Three plays later, the Cardinals were able to capture their first lead in the set, as a kill from Green pushed BSU ahead 12-11.
A block assist from McGinnis and Green gave BSU a two-point lead at 13-11, only to see a pair of kills from McGlaughlin tie the set back at 13. Despite the adversity from earlier in the set, it was the Cardinals who came out on top as a kill from Green, followed by a McGinnis and Green block assists gave BSU the set at 15-13 and the match at 3-2.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action tomorrow night with a 7 p.m. start at Western Michigan.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
