Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
9-15, 4-5
Bowling Green
17-7, 6-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 25 | 20 | 14 | 25 | 15 | 2 |
| Bowling Green | 16 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 17 | 3 |
Volleyball Suffers 3-2 Setback At Bowling Green
October 24, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - - Despite four players with double-digit kills, the Ball State women's volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 (16-25, 25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 17-15) setback at Bowling Green Friday night.
The Cardinals fall to 9-15 (4-5 Mid-American Conference) with the loss, while the Falcons escape to improve to 17-7 (6-3 MAC).
After rallying from down two sets to one, the Cardinals looked poised to capture the match when one of Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.) career-high 11 kills hit the floor to give Ball State a 14-12 advantage. However, BGSU scored the next two points and walked away with a 17-15 set victory to capture the match.
In addition to Phillip's career-high 11 markers, transfers Alisha Green (Country Club Hills, Ill./Hillcrest H.S.) and Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./New Albany H.S.) added BSU career-highs of 18 and 16 kills, respectively. Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) smashed 12 kills to round out BSU's double-digit attackers.
Setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.), who set the Cardinals to a .250 (69-24-180) rate of success on the night, led five Cardinals in double-figure digs with a career-high 20, while adding a career-best 56 assists for her 12th double-double of the season. Sullivan also finished the match with her first double-double in a BSU uniform, adding 11 digs to her 16 kills.
Bowling Green's Meghan Mohr paced all players with 19 kills in the contest, while teammate Kendra Halm added 18 markers. BGSU's Chelsey Meek was the matches' top defender, collecting 25 digs. The Falcons finished the night with a .263 (60-15-171) hitting mark, despite the Cardinals limiting one of the team's top attackers, Corey Domek, to two kills and a .000 (2-2-16) attack percentage.
With the Cardinals holding a 6-4 advantage in the opening set, Sullivan planted back-to-back kills, helping spark an 8-2 run which gave BSU a 14-6 lead. Bowling Green would get no closer than six points the rest of the frame, as the Cardinals reached set point at 24-15 on a block assist from Kakatolis and Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.), while winning the set 25-16 on a kill from Kakatolis.
Errors proved costly for the Cardinals in the second frame, as BGSU build a 7-1 edge after a Kakatolis kill was followed by seven-straight BSU miscues. The Cardinals did battle back within two points at 21-19 and trailed by three at 23-20. However, a blocking error and attack error handed the Falcons the set at 25-20.
Sullivan gave BSU the first marker in the third game, but BGSU quickly played to an 8-3 edge. BSU managed to cut the gap to three at 11-8, before the Falcons rallied off 10 of the next 13 points to claim a 10-point edge at 21-11. The hosts went on to win the set 25-14 on a Mohr marker.
With the fourth set tied at 10-10, back-to-back kills from Green gave the Cardinals a 12-10 lead, while back-to-back block assists from Boyd and Kakatolis pushed the score to 14-11. From there, the Cardinals pulled ahead by seven points at 21-14 after kills from Sullivan and Green, before winning the set 25-20 on another blast from Sullivan.
While the Falcons scored the first three points in the fifth game, the Cardinals battled back to tie the set at four, thanks to kills from Green, Kakatolis and Sullivan, plus Boyd's match-best third service ace. The game remained tied at the 11-11 mark before kills from Kakatolis and Phillips gave BSU a 13-11 edge.
After a Halm kill brought BGSU back within one, Phillips smashed her 11th kill of the frame to give BSU match point at 14-12. The Cardinals were not able to capitalize however, as a kill from Corey Domek and an attack error tied the set at 14. Sullivan gave BSU its third chance to win the set with a kill to push the score to 15-14, but BGSU used kills from Mohr, Susie Isphording and Meek to win the set 17-15 and the match 3-2.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. match at Miami.
