Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
6-5
Pennsylvania
7-1
Penn Snaps Women?s Volleyball Winning Streak At Four
September 18, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
TOWSON, Md. - - The Ball State (6-5) women's volleyball team saw its four-match winning streak come to an end Friday afternoon with a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-17, 26-24) loss to Penn (7-1) in its opening match of the Towson Invitational at the Towson Center.
In the loss, Cardinals senior Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs, while fellow senior Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) added four block assists to break into the top 20 in program history with 204.
Junior Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.) continued her solid hitting for the Cardinals, racking up a team-high 14 kills while hitting .417 (14-4-24). Senior Alisha Green (Country Club Hills, Ill./Hillcrest H.S.) also logged double-figure kills with 13.
Defensively, BSU had four players tally double-figure digs led by 15 from Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.). The Cardinals finished the match with 63 total digs, compared to 60 for Penn. BSU also held a 10-to-five advantage in team blocks.
Penn's Elizabeth Semmens led all players with 20 kills, while Madi Wojciechowski added a match-best 18 digs. Lauren Martin added 13 kills and a team-best .379 (13-2-29) attack mark for the Quakers.
Overall, the Cardinals hit .189 (52-25-143) in the setback, while Penn logged a .236 (56-19-157) attacking mark.
A Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville H.S.) kill opened the scoring in the first set for the Cardinals, but Penn responded with the next two points. A Kakatolis kill on the following play tied the set at two, and from there the teams battled to an 11-11 stalemate.
Unfortunately, a BSU serving error and a kill from Semmens sparked a 5-0 Penn run that gave the Quakers the lead for good. Ball State would get as close as two points down the stretch, but another kill from Semmens and a service ace off the tape ended the frame at 25-20 and handed Ball State its first set loss since Sept. 5.
The second stanza saw the teams play to a 6-6 deadlock before a Phillips kill and a Schembra service ace gave the Cardinals the momentum. Ball State went on to take a six-point advantage at the 17-11 mark off a Breivogel kill.
The lead remained six at 20-14, before a three-point Penn run cut the gap to 20-17. The teams then traded four-two point runs, with a Breivogel kill giving BSU set point at 24-19, before another Breivogel marker ended the frame at 25-21.
The Quakers scored the first four points of the third set, and pulled ahead by five at the 8-3 mark. Ball State made a charge to get back into the set by scoring the next three points, on a Phillips kill, a block and a Schembra ace, pushing the score to 8-6.
However, with BSU trailing by four at 12-8, an eight-point Penn run effectively ended the set. The Quakers went on to win the game 25-17 on an overpass kill from Wojciechowski.
Kills from Phillips and Breivogel gave the Cardinals an early 2-1 edge in the fourth frame, before a 4-0 Penn run made the score 5-2. With the Quakers leading 7-4, back-to-back markers from Green and a Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) ace knotted the score at seven.
After calling timeout, Penn scored the next three points and forced a Ball State break. The Cardinals responded with the next four points to reclaim a one-point edge at 11-10. With the score tied at 12, a pair of BSU attack errors started a 6-0 Quakers run that made the score 18-12.
A pair of Karin Caudill (Selma, Ind./Burris Laboratory School) service aces helped BSU draw within three at 18-15. Kills from Green cut the edge to two at 19-17 and again at 20-18. Penn followed with the next two points, building a four-point lead at 22-18, only to see the Cardinals respond with the next three markers to force the Quakers to use their final timeout at 22-21.
Ball State added a pair of block assists after break, to take a slim 23-22 edge. The Cardinals went on to reach set point at 24-23 off a Green kill. Unfortunately, back-to-back kills from Semmens gave Penn match point, while a BSU attack error ended the set at 26-24 and the match at 3-1 in favor of the Quakers.
The Ball State women's volleyball team will have a quick turnaround, as it faces George Washington at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon.
